What Happened to Damar Hamlin?

(KNSI) — Medical experts are explaining what happened to Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin that caused him to collapse on the field during Monday Night Football.

Sports medicine Doctor Brian Sutterer explains it is likely a rare event called commotio cordis. He says, “essentially what can happen is, if you have a blunt trauma to the chest that occurs at exactly the right time in the cardiac electrical cycle, your heart can be sent into cardiac arrest.”

Hamlin had just made a tackle on the Bengals’ Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the game. The two fell to the ground, and Hamlin stood up before falling again.

Dr. Sutterer says what happened was a one in a million event because “this is one of those things that not only do you have to have a high enough force, but it has to happen within milliseconds of a time window becuase if that impact comes at any other time in this electrical cycle, you’re fine.”

He says treatment is “obviously CPR and defibrillation as quickly as possible,” which Hamlin received before being loaded into an ambulance that was driven out onto the field. Dr. Sutterer says commotio cordis “can absolutely be a life-threatening thing.” He also took aim at anti-vaxxers speculating the NFL’s vaccine mandate had something to do with the condition, adding, “This is not something people should go speculate about vaccines or anything like that causing this cardiac arrest.”

The team tweeted a statement saying Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field, and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment, adding that he is currently sedated and in critical condition.

The game was temporarily suspended before ultimately being postponed.

Fans and players made their way to the hospital to show support for Hamlin and the Bills organization, with former Minnesota Viking Stefon Diggs, who now plays for Buffalo, reportedly coming into the closed ER and telling a police officer, “I need to be there for my teammate.”

Well wishes and prayer requests for Hamlin flooded social media Monday night with someone discovering his Chasing M’s Foundation GoFundMe page, which he started for a community toy drive at Kelly and Nina’s Daycare Center in his native Pennsylvania. The page says, “As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will never forget where I come from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me.” Before Hamlin’s injury, the page had raised more than $12,500 of its $2500 goal. The amount has now soared into the millions.

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