Damar Hamlin spent Monday night in an intensive care unit and remained there in critical condition Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills said in a statement.
The 24-year-old NFL player collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night, and Bills officials said he went into cardiac arrest.
Speaking to reporters outside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Tuesday night, Hamlin’s uncle said his nephew’s heart stopped twice, once on the field and again in the hospital, CBS Chicago Charlie De Mar reported.
What Happened at the Monday Night Football Game?
At 5:58 into the first quarter of the game, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, running the ball, hit Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety, in the chest with his helmet during a game. Hamlin dragged Higgins to the ground. Hamlin got up immediately afterwards – but a few seconds later he collapsed.
Medical personnel attended to Hamlin on the field for 19 minutes, The Associated Press reported, and Hamlin received both CPR and an automated external defibrillator. CBS Sports reported that he was placed on a stretcher and then placed in an ambulance where he was given oxygen to be taken to the hospital.
The remainder of the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals has been postponed.
The bills said early Tuesday that Hamlin had gone into cardiac arrest and had his heartbeat restored in the field, and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further evaluation and treatment. He has been sedated and is in critical condition, the team said.
Damar Hamlin spent last night in the intensive care unit and is now in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
We are thankful and appreciative of the effusive support we have received thus far.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 3, 2023
Fans rallied outside the hospital overnight and donated millions of dollars to Hamlin’s efforts to buy Christmas toys for children from his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh.
What is commotio cordis?
While it’s not yet clear exactly what Hamlin experienced, CBS News medical staffer Dr. David Agus that Hamlin may have suffered from what is known as commotio cordis, an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs when someone receives a direct blow to the chest.
Agus described the condition as “a confusion of the heart” where the heart muscle pumps erratically, and said the energy from the beat interferes with the electrical signals in the heart, creating a new beat known as ventricular fibrillation – a fast, irregular heartbeat does not pump blood to the brain. When that happens, Agus said, the heart needs to be brought back into a regular rhythm.
“That’s why there are defibrillators on the sidelines, to best bring the heart back to a regular rhythm,” he said.
Agus said every minute blood flow to the brain is stopped increases the potential for serious consequences – including death.
“Each minute you wait basically increases the chance of death by 10% – so the sooner you do it the better,” he said.
Agus said the next 12 to 24 hours will show how Hamlin’s heart recovers – but the bigger question is whether he sustained an injury to his brain from his cardiac arrest. The faster they were able to get his heart going, Agus said, the more likely he is to recover quickly.
Hamlin is reportedly on a ventilator, according to Agus that over the next 12 to 24 hours, medical staff will slow that machine down to see if his body takes over and he starts breathing himself so they can remove the ventilator.
Agus said about 30 cases of commotio cordis occur in the United States each year, including in little league players who are hit in the chest by a ball.
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