Getty Image / Cooper Neill
Seemingly the whole sports world stopped on January 2nd when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. It was one of the scariest scenes in the history of televised sports.
Hamlin, who had been making a play on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, lay motionless on the field for 19 minutes before being taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, as they had on the field, medical personnel revived him and saved his life.
It is widely believed that an anatomical phenomenon called Commotio Cordis. Here are some details on Commotio Cordis, courtesy of the Korey Stringer Institute at UConn. Korey Stringer was an offensive lineman that died of heat stroke during Vikings’ training camp in 2001.
Commotio Cordis refers to the sudden arrhythmic death caused by a low/mild chest wall impact. Commotio Cordis is seen mostly in athletes between the ages of 8 and 18 who are partaking in sports with projectiles such as baseballs, hockey pucks, or lacrosse balls. These projectiles can strike the athletes in the middle of the chest with a low impact but enough to cause the heart to enter an arrhythmia. Martial arts is a sport in which a strike of a hand can also cause the heart to change it’s rhythm. Without immediate CPR and defibrillation the prognosis of commotio cordis is not very good. This condition is extremely dangerous with rare survival.
Hamlin has since been released from hospitals in both Cincinnati and Buffalo and is expected to make a full recovery as he rehabs. On Thursday, the chief medical officer of the NFL Players’ Association even said that he fully expects Hamlin to play football again.
And, at Thursday night’s NFL Honors Ceremony, Hamlin took the stage and spoke about what happened to him. He was flanked by those that assisted with his care. It will give you chills.
Best moment of the night!
Damar Hamlin! ❤🙏pic.twitter.com/nL8YQX81tn
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 10, 2023
That’s awesome. I can’t wait to see Hamlin back on the field soon.