“Can you imagine how his mother felt?” - Chuck Hughes' widow sends out heartfelt message following Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest
In a grim series of events, Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field following a cardiac arrest. As the world reached out and hoped for a recovery, Chuck Hughes' widow, Sharon, stayed awake for as much news as she could. After all, Hughes — a wide receiver - remains the only NFL player to die on the field.
Hamlin's news had Sharon terrified for the young Buffalo Bills star, who never wanted such an incident to repeat itself. While speaking to NBC News from her home in Texas, she revealed how troubling it was hear about.
Chuck Hughes passed away when he was 28 on October 24, 1971. He was playing instead of another injured player, and collapsed a short while after his first tackle of the season.
The game continued, but with silence and dread filling the venue. With Hamlin still fighting for his life, people are praying for history to not repeat itself. Sharon Hughes said:
“I was very emotional, Can you imagine how his mother felt? It’s a horrifying feeling, and, well, I just felt so sorry for the whole family last night".
Hamlin remained in critical condition, shocking everyone who was watching the Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The 24-year-old got hit on the chest, stood up and walked a little before collapsing completely.
As Sharon mentioned, Hamiln's mother was at the game and went to the hospital in the ambulance. When Chuck Hughes collapsed, Sharon was the one who rode with him around 50 years ago.
How did Chuck Hughes die? A look into the late star's final moments on the field
After playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Hughes was with the Detroit Lions for the 1971 NFL season and was playing against the Chicago Bears that day, trying to overcome a 28-23 deficit.
He ran a decoy route down the field before collapsing near the 20-yard line. Bears linebacker Dick Butkus ended up yelling for medical assistance, following which they rushed Hughes to the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead upon arrival. A postmortem report revealed that Chuck Hughes was suffering from undiagnosed advanced arteriosclerosis, even though his official cause of death was coronary thrombosis. A heart attack, in simple terms.
Remember watching WR Chuck Hughes of the Detroit Lions convulsing on the field during a 1971 game. He died soon after. Was covering a Blue Jackets game in 2002 when a puck hit a 13 YO girl in the head, leading to her death.
I hope and pray this doesn’t end the same way.
Sharon ended up filing a $21.5 million lawsuit against the hospital, which is where Hughes went for a checkup post some chest pain. This was in May 1971, and went undiagnosed. Despite the buzz around the lawsuit, the case was settled for an unknown amount.