Doctor explains Damar Hamlin's condition after Bills safety suffers cardiac arrest vs Bengals - “This is a dysrhythmia that happens after trauma”
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18. It is reported that Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after taking a hit from Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin was given CPR on the field, as the rest of the players were shell-shocked after seeing what had happened to the Bills player. Damar Hamlin is currently receiving treatment at the UC Medical Center. Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an emergency room specialist, spoke to ABC News and gave his perspective on the whole situation.
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Here's what Dr. Anthony Cardillo told ABC News:
"What we can tell is that the event was most probably secondary to that hit. There are other episodes where athletes are running, they're exerting themselves and will have a ventricular arrhythmia secondary to a hypertrophic or large part that's different. This was traumatic."
He added:
"We see that hit happened in that upper chest area. And there are a couple of things that could happen under this scenario. The first thing about obviously, is the spinal cord, the spinal cord injury, it doesn't seem like that's what happened here."
"Because when you have a spinal cord injury, that does injure acutely, that cervical spine, you don't get back up, you're on the floor and you stay on the floor, he was able to get back up that leads us to believe this is more of a cardiac injury."
Cardillo noted:
"At this time, he had no pulse when hit the ground, that's more of a ventricular arrhythmia that was happening. This is a dysrhythmia that happens after trauma. Whether he survives or not, it will be dependent upon how long he was down, and how long he was not getting oxygen."
He continued:
"Now it sounds like he is in the ICU or in the medical facility, intubated at this time, with a heartbeat... That means that he was most likely brought out of that lethal dysrhythmia. And now it's going to be dependent upon how long he was down, and how much anoxia his brain would have sustained."
Hamlin is in a very critical situation and the whole world is praying for his health. This type of health scare has never been seen before in the NFL, and everyone is quite concerned about the Buffalo Bills player's condition.
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Damar Hamlin's heartbeat was restored on the field
As per the Buffalo Bills, the medical professionals on the field were able to restore Damar Hamlin's heartbeat. The player was later taken by an ambulance to the nearest hospital where he received further treatment.
Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.
The league and team have no further comment on Damar Hamlin's situation as they await the results of all procedures and testing.
The UC Medical Center also didn't give any more updates on Hamlin's health, and until then everyone can only hope for the best.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit ABC7 and H/T Sportskeeda.