Buffalo Bills Player Damar Hamlin Suffers Cardiac Arrest During Monday Night Football, Latest Update

A truly frightening moment happened during the first quarter of the big Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills safety Damar Hamlin took a hit to the chest while tackling Tee Higgins to the ground. It looked like a fairly normal play, but when Hamlin stood up, he collapsed to the ground. Doctors and nurses ran to the field and started CPR on Hamlin, and according to reports from the field, they also used a defibrillator to shock his heart back into rhythm.

He was on the field for nearly ten minutes before they rushed him out of the stadium in an ambulance. Insiders say they got a pulse back on him before he left the field, but he was not breathing on his own.

In the latest update from the team, they confirmed that Hamlin did suffer cardiac arrest.

According to a few internet doctors, the cardiac arrest could have been triggered by the hit to the chest. Sometimes, if you’re hit hard enough in the chest at EXACTLY the right moment, it can knock your heart out of rhythm and cause cardiac arrest. It’s very rare, but it’s possible that’s what happened here. It’s either that, or he had some sort of undiagnosed heart condition, although that’s becoming increasingly rare in sports thanks to all the testing they must go through.

An hour after the scary collapse, the NFL confirmed the game would be postponed. Players on both teams did not want to continue playing after that. In fact, many players were in tears.

We certainly hope Hamlin can make a full recovery. It’s great his vitals are back to normal, but I suppose it’s all just dependent on how long he went without oxygen. They were able to get to him pretty quickly, so it’s possible he makes it out of this frightening situation relatively unharmed.