On Jan. 2nd in the first quarter of ESPN’s Monday Night Football game, Damar Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills safety, collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest just seconds after tackling Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, Tee Higgins. 

Immediately after going into cardiac arrest, Hamlin was administered CPR and he was resuscitated on the field, by the NFL medical team. He was then taken to the Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition. The football world was in shock casing the game to be postponed and then ultimately canceled. 

According to the American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease. It can come on suddenly or in the wake of other symptoms. Cardiac arrest is often fatal if appropriate steps are not taken immediately. Fortunately for Hamlin, his life was put into the hands of the best doctors and experts in the area.

Many physicians were trying to figure out exactly what could have caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. Although there were many theories, cardiologists seemed to think it was caused by commotio cordis, a condition in which the heart beats unrhythmically from an object striking the chest directly over the heart. 

Dr. Hari Tandi, the director of the cardiac arrhythmia program at Vanderbilt University, provides information about Damar’s condition. 

In such cases there is not always “something wrong with the heart. A healthy heart when hit with blunt force at a specific time can launch it into an abnormal and potentially deadly rhythm,” said Dr.Tandi. 

For football players here at the upper school, watching that traumatic experience could have affected their love for the game. 

“I think I just need to be more cautious because I know that it can happen to me, I have second guessed it before, but I will still play,” said junior Pop Johnson.

Not only football players, but the fans too and anybody who watched the game on TV were disturbed and sent their prayers for Hamlin.  

Freshman Madison Jayson, a big Buffalo Bills fan, felt this unsettling feeling. 

 

“When the injury first happened, I was extremely upset and everyone I knew from Buffalo was, too,  texting me and crying. It was very emotional and I could not sleep that night,” said Jayson. 

 

The whole world lent their hearts out for Damar and their response was astounding. All NFL stadiums advertised Damar’s recovery through social media by changing their profile picture to his jersey. Some stadiums even colored the number three on the thirty-yard line in Bills colors, and put on their jumbotrons “pray for Damar.”

 

“Before his injury, Damar had a fundraiser for underprivileged children raising money so that they could have clothes, toys, and just enough to keep them comfortable. Just a couple hours after his injury, the fund was raised from $750,000 to $9 million,” said Jayson. 

 

Damar Hamlin was officially released from the Buffalo General Medical Center on Wed., Jan. 11th nine days after he had first been admitted in Cincinnati.