Medical staff did use a AED on the field. They were able to establish a heart pulse on the field & administered a breathing tube. Ambulance took him to a tier 1 trauma center (2 miles away from the stadium) right after. Hamlin is intubated & unconscious since then. Everyone is hoping & waiting for positive updates.

Before the game, his GoFundMe toy drive for children in Pittsburgh (his hometown) had 10k. It currently is at $4.5 million.

This moment was terrifying to watch last night, last I had heard he was still in critical condition. I hope and pray he makes a full recovery.

What a terrifying moment. 9 minutes of CPR and AED is horrific. Prayers to him and his family

10:34 Seeing Tradavious White tear up essentially broke me. He is a really good cornerback and plays a similar skill group as Demar Hamlin (a similar analogy to soccer would be like a fullback and a center back). They probably went to meetings everyday and work out every day over the last couple of years. Prayers to Hamlin and his family.

If this turns out to be a pre-existing problem, the fact that it happened during a game was actually a blessing. Between the two teams, there are so many doctors and Trauma specialist so close by. His mom also was in the stands. Let's hope that he has a speedy and full recovery..

Ryan Clark and Scott Van Pelt from ESPN Did a great job of talking through this moment live on air. If you guys can find that video, it is quite a beautiful discussion about Mortality and Sport

This was the darkest day I've ever seen as a longtime NFL fan...prayers on his recovery

It's a shame, he's a bloody baby! I hope he comes out the other side, and soon. My dads heart stopped a month before his 39th bday and it just killed him outright, my 19 year old cousin had one and had to leave the air force. It's horrific to see it happen to anybody and he's only 24! 🙏

As a Bills fan I had to question whether I would (or even could) watch this when I saw it come up. Last night was extremely emotional for me. I've watched this team for 30+ years. I've met Damar multiple times at training camps and practices and team events. As much as these guys talk about the family atmosphere in the Bills lockerroom and how close all of their actual families are outside of the team you know that those guys were out there literally watching their little brother fight for his life.

It’s so upsetting and at the same time heart warming to see his teammates praying for him and many of them in tears. Also to see how many came over to the prayer circle from the Bengal’s team and everyone in the stadium silent and praying.

The last time this happened in the NFL was in 1990, he never recovered and ended up passing away a few days later, thankfully Damar recovered well.

I was eight years old in 1971 and watching on TV when Chuck Hughes of the Lions collapsed on the field and tragically died at the hospital later that night. A moment I didn't want to see again. Hopefully Damar will make a full recovery. Thoughts and prayers to his family, friends and teammates.

Dave, they did use a defibrillator.

He was administered CPR for 9 minutes and was defibbed on the field, given oxygen and taken into critical care. He was taken off oxygen today and was able to have a video call with some teammates. Still recovering but in much better condition.

Cincinnatian here. We have some of the best medical facilities in the states. Our children’s hospital as well as UC medical are a major source of pride for our people. It was amazing to see the community gather together and support this young man.

This is so sad.. My 2 sons are in there 30’s and there hearts are broken.. pleas send out prayers for him. We can’t lose him..🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Bin a rough week so far... Hamlin, Renner, Ken Block.... 🙏

A cardiologist was saying what could have happened. Said he could have made chest contact just as his heart beat was in between beats which would cause cardiac arrest. Fingers crossed he’s going to be ok he’s so young.

Damn, bringing me back to my EMT days. Getting hit right in the middle of the chest like that, in any sport or simply in regular life, can lead to what's called "commotio cordis," where the impact interrupts the electrical impulses that regulates a "sinus rhythm," aka a regular heartbeat. As the reporter was saying this can happen to even perfectly healthy people with no underlying conditions. Things like this are terrible to see and the only thing anyone can do, apart from his medical staff, is hope he has a full recovery. Pray if you want, but my faith is in his doctors.

Even though Hamlin was the defender making the tackle he actually took the hit from the offensive player who initiated the contact driving him backwards.

I've heard his heart stopped for 6 minutes before they were able to revive him.

His family member just did an interview an hour ago and said they're keeping him sedated so his body can heal better. They said his lungs were also damaged due to the CPR. Guessing a rib probably broke and punctured his lung or lungs during the CPR. Which is common

A cardioologist on tv said it was related to the way his chest was hit. It very rarely happens.

I appreciate you guys so much for bringing awareness to this tragedy.

Gave him cpr for 9 minutes. Never seen something like this, thought sadly it might be another rare nfl death on the field. His go fund me from 2 years ago for his charity was asking for 2,500. At the time this happened it was at like 10,000. When I checked this morning it was at around 4.1 million. His vitals are good but still have him sedated and a breathing tube in him probaly won't know for another day or 2 much more. Sadly his mother was at the stadium I can only imagine what she's going through. Also have to give props to the 2 head coaches, after Demar was finally off in the ambulance the league was saying we'll give you 5 minutes and the game will resume. Both coaches were like F that we're going into the locker room. After talking with their teams and eachother both sides said no were not playing. Then Rodger Goodell and other league members decided to postpone the game. Game won't be played this week and instead week 18 games will be played. Not that it's more important than Demars health and safety but there is a lot of playoff implications effected if this game between the Bills and Bengals is not played/ruled a draw/if they just say the Bengals win. If you have the opportunity please donate to this young man's go fund me. Also spread as much love as possible to ppl around you and even strangers.

There hasn’t been a definitive statement but Ive wondered if Hamlin experienced Commotio Cordis. If a person is struck in the chest at a specific time in the heart rhythm cycle, the heart’s electrical signal can be interrupted, resulting in the heart stopping. This rare cause of the heart suddenly stopping is called “commotio cordis.” The blunt force that causes commotio cordis often comes from a hard object or ball hitting the chest, such as a baseball, a softball, or a hockey puck, but it can come from any type of blow. The average victim of commotio cordis is 14 years of age. Young people are at higher risk because the chest wall is less developed and transmits force more easily. Symptoms A person who suffers commotio cordis will collapse and be unresponsive following a blow to the chest. A pulse will not be felt and the person may not be breathing. Sometimes there will be jerking movements in the arms and legs, but this should not be confused with a seizure. Gasping breaths may also be seen, but this does not mean the person is breathing normally.

This happened on Monday. By Thursday morning it was reported he is responsive and writing notes (still has a breathing tube down his throat so can't talk). His first question was "who won the game?". Not sure if they've told him it was called off and at this point will probably not be completed. Cause of cardiac arrest still not determined from what I can find.

This is something you have to watch out for in boxing. He was hit right when his heart was in the upstroke of pumping. And it only takes a millisecond. Pray for this man!

His breathing tube was removed this morning - he is breathing on his own today. Yesterday we all learned that he was awake, responding to verbal commands, moving his legs, holding his parents' hands, and, although he couldn't speak due to the breathing tube, was communicating through writing. The first thing he asked? "Did we win?" (Thank you to NBC News for this information as to what happened. I know absolutely nothing about medicine but thought you may be interested what happened.) Cardiac arrest was caused by a very rare phenomenon called "commotio cordis" was to blame. When hit with blunt force at a specific time, a healthy heart can launch into an abnormal and potentially deadly rhythm. Normally, the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body about every second. The process has a rhythm, keeping the blood flowing at a healthy pace. But every time the heart beats, a tiny moment - less than a fifth of a second - makes it vulnerable to the force of a projectile, such as a hockey puck or a baseball, that can lead to a chaotic and potentially deadly heart rhythm. At this exact moment, experts say, a blow to the chest in the right place can launch an otherwise healthy person into cardiac arrest. The heart's electrical system malfunctions and the heartbeat rhythm goes haywire, causing cardiac arrest.

I was watching the game live, heard the ambulance leaving the stadium. UC has the best surgeons around. Hoping for the best.

Thank God for the medical professionals. A doctor stated other than a hospital, the next best place for a medical emergency is an NFL game facility.

Watching this last night was heartbreaking, prayers to him and his family.

Happened to a guy in baseball once. The ball hit him in the chest at the precise time between heartbeats.

This is a good response to people that mock American football for the protective pads and helmets. It’s just inherently a violent game. The whole reason the helmet and pads were introduced in the first place was because back when football was a college sport in the late 1800’s there was a single season where 19 students died playing. Many wanted to have the sport banned. The pads were the compromise

So far today, many different cardiologists are saying that the hit happened in a certain way, at just the right point in a heartbeat to cause the electric pulses in the heart to stop. Defibrillator was used on the field, along with CPR for 10 minutes.

Scary stuff. Good thing all the leagues learn from each other and between the NHL and NFL stadiums and arenas now have a lot more medical staff and equipment for situations like these.

A few hours before this incident, Motorsports pioneer Ken Block passed away. Y’all should react to some of his gymkhana videos

i was watching this game live in my hometown just 45 min from Cincy. it was a very physical and high energy game from the start. A different defensive player for the Bills was actually injured on the series before the Hamlin hit. Once he went down and the NFL ran like 2 or 3 commercial breaks in a row, that's when I knew it was really bad 😞 Damar is in good hands in Cincinnati. Praying he pulls through

amazing that you covered this. hes now home and doing way better. love to OBR from buffalo!

I was at work when I saw what had happened and I was devastated man could not sleep on it the whole world is reacted to this this is really devastating prayers up everybody 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

He’s currently still in critical condition smh sad to see tbh so young as well god got em tho 🙏🏽💙

It was crazy they tried to tell them to get ready to play in 5 min. crazy game.

The only other time that I can personally remember wondering if I saw a player die was, I think in 2011, former Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox got tackled so awkwardly that his spine folded backwards the wrong way. He survived and wasn’t paralyzed but never played again. That was a freak accident from an awkward tackle. The one yesterday is so shocking to me because that was a seemingly routine but hard tackle.

Hamlin is from my hometown this was so heartbreaking to watch I cried but he’s up now thank the lord everyone’s prayers and the medical staff deserve so much praise he’s gonna be so happy when he realizes his charity for toys for kids in pittsburgh which had an original goal of 2.5k reached 7.3 million in 3 days what a blessing we love you damar get better 🙏

Also, the latest update as of my comment is that he is now on 50% oxygen which means some progress has been made.

I knew when he got a shoulder to the chest, then passed out it was probably a cardiac failure issues. Prayers for him and his family.

This happened to a hockey player named Chris Pronger while blocking a slapshot and he came back to have a hall of fame career it does happen but man it is hard to watch I just really hope this young man comes back to full stride

If you take a hit to the chest while your heart is between beats and essentially restarting you can basically die instantly. If they use a defibrillator to restart the heart rhythm and then administerCPR you will usually be ok. Same thing happened to Chris Pronger in the NHL when he took a puck to the heart, he stood up and then dropped. Same thing here. They both received the same treatment but unfortunately for Hamlin he was receiving CPR for around 9 minutes which is scary because it’s all about oxygen to the brain.l and anything over 3 minutes can cause problems. However, he’s young and strong though so there’s definitely hope. Prayers .

Commotio cordis is when a blow to the chest causes the heart to stop.

Also praying for Hamlin.

I was there. I just went under the stands and walked aimlessly. Prayers……

I am a big Buffalo Bills fan. Been watching Hamlin play all season. It's absolutely stunning to see him go down like that.

That first rated comment on the video is so insane lol... "“That hit had to occur at a certain point in time that was only five milliseconds long,” said Dr. Marc Cohen, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Newark-Beth Israel Medical Center. “If that hit occurred one millisecond after or before, this may not have happened.” “There is a time in the cycle of the heart where we are at risk. If we were to tap the heart, we can cause the heart to go into ventricular fibrillation,” Cohen told The Post. “More likely than not, what happened is he got up and his rhythm became chaotic. That may have taken a few seconds to occur.” OR THIS lol

I was watching the game, texting my friends that play fantasy football. It didn't look bad but you can see the helmet crash dead center of his chest. The one that looked bad was Theisman's leg getting snapped in two. I was watching that MNF game as well.

Our sons saw this happen to a teammate in High School playing hockey. Shook the whole town.

I feel for his teammates who were watching it happen. I watched my dad have a heart attack while playing softball at a firefighter's tournament. He collapsed surrounded by 100 firefighters and EMTs and was DOA. He was 39, I was 13. The images have never left me. When it's your time, no matter where, when, or who is next to you, it's over. Fuckin sad.

Yeah his mom was in the crowd. They stopped the ambulance so she could ride to the hospital with him.

AED is a fantastic piece of hardware. It will actually read your heart rhythm via EKG and then administer a different amount of shock and at specific times in order to restart your heart if it has stopped or fix the rhythm

Back here to say, as a Bills fan, that Damar Hamlin has committed to playing the 2023-2024 season and is already involved in OTAs (Organized Team Activities). He has been fully, medically cleared to play and he still wants to. What an incredible young man.

It's a crazy situation and I'm happy he's on the road to a full recovery per reports today. Its very unfortunate we can't have an open dialogue about all the possible reasons why healthy athletes are dropping like flies. 1100+ heart related/"sudden" deaths this years ALONE with athletes. Prior to this, that number of athletes have passed in the same manner but over a span of 38 YEARS. Speculate all you want, my opinion of this particular situation is that "commotio cordis" is not the cause.

great reaction prayers for damar

Players and many fans prayed. I appreciate that they did not hide it. There is power in prayer.

This was a shocking moment last night as it happen. It was going to be a great game. As of currently, Damar is still in critical condition. Praying 🙏 for his safe recovery.

I’m glad to see you survived your heart attack, one night we were lucky i was home and not at football practice I played semi pro football but we didn’t have practice that tonight. That my mother had a heart attack, and I had to bring her back she survived. And she is still alive today

It's way worse of a situation than that report said. They did 9 minutes of cpr and aed before they got a heart beat. We're all waiting to find out if he is brain dead. Which is a terrifyingly real possibility. 🙏

Have watched a lot of football. Have seen some unfortunate injuries but never anything like last night. Scary stuff

The pundit asked "What are we going to do, ban the game?" In the early 20th century, football was almost banned. This was when it was still solely the domain of colleges and universities, yet the yearly death toll was in the dozens. There were drastic rule changes, championed by president Theodore Roosevelt, like helmets and the forward pass, in order to save the game. Something that now happens yearly. Yet it will always be a very violent game.

Go to NFL KZfaq channels! CPR Lasted 9 min, heart restarted but player was not breathing,medical team inserted breathing tube patient is in ICU. Sedated not breathing on his own! Huge loving reactions from entire country! Players on both teams were crying and supporting each other! Bengals fans were completely silent, respectful, praying!!

Irregular heart conditions can often go unnoticed during an EKG. If the irregular beat doesn't present itself during the actual test, it won't be detected. Not saying that's the case here, just saying it happens all the time.

Haven’t an unusual amount of soccer players collapsed on the field this year???? Side effects of the jab

Last word from this morning was that he had a heart attack. He is in stable but critical condition and is in a medically induced coma. They have most likely also lowered his body temperature to prevent further damage to his brain. He is intubated but his heart is back to normal rhythm. One of the analyst doctors last night said he most likely took a blow to the chest at just the right place at just the right time to send his heart into fibrillation (the heart quivers instead of beating). He said it normally takes about 6 seconds for the blood pressure to plummet to zero once the heart stops. If you time the clip from the tackle, when he got up and when he went down it was about 4-5 seconds which is consistent with this description. The good news is the trainers were with him in seconds and the EMTs less than a minute later. They were administering CPR and had an AED onsite and used it to shock his heart back into normal rhythm before they loaded him into the ambulance. The Univ. of Cincinnati Medical Center (a Level 1 Trauma Center) is less that 2 miles away and they had a trauma team standing by before the ambulance arrived. There will probably very few updates until tomorrow or the day after. They have to wait about 48hrs to slowly warm his body back up and then assess for any damage to the brain and other organs. The game was delayed while the EMTs worked with Damar. They then postponed the game after about an hour. Very scary! My brother's heart stopped like that. Fortunately he was in a doctor's office at the time and they administered CPR right away and had an AED on site. He was very lucky and the doctors still don't know how it happened. He now wears a pacemaker. Terrifying to watch and I'm sure all the players were traumatized! Many were in tears on both teams!

Klot shots are in full effect.

Apparently what happened is extremely rare. He got hit in the exact right/wrong spot at an exact millisecond in his heartbeat

Lord god just please take him under your wing. Love on him, please!.

I’m from the cinci area and have family that works in UC( university of cinci ) hospital. Will keep you up to date

If there's any "bright side" to this! It's that he fell out in the one place he would get world class emergency response. Big ups to the 2 teams and the venue's top notch medical professionals who worked him immediately and got to an ambulance straight to hospital. I shudder to think if he was in his house or driving! God bless!

It looked like Commotio Cordis which is crazy cause there's only about a 10-30 ms timeframe that can happen. The hit was just bad timing. Hope he pulls through

This was also on the Monday night football game, it was the only game on in the entire nation was watching.

I would think it might be similar to a few years ago when some Little League Baseball pitchers in different games were hit with line drives to the heart area (between heart beats) and those boys actually died. It's getting hit at just the wrong time, between heartbeats

According to news tonight, Tuesday, here in the U.S, when he was brought in to the ER he was being assisted by a ventilator 100% but now he is breathing 50% on his own and is heavily sedated still critical. They’re saying the next 24-48 hours are critical

more info has come out and more will in time. one theory is the shot he took was on a part of the heart beat that it did this. why does it not happen more then? cause it is a millisecond of a time. now thats one theory and i bet as time goes on we will get more.

You can certainly condition your heart to be in better shape but you can’t condition it to take blunt force any better. It seems he got hit in the chest at just the most inopportune moment. A freak accident for an otherwise perfectly healthy athlete.

His mother was in the stands watching, and they waited for her to come to the ambulance before it left, said it was so bad, they wanted her with him incase he passed then. still in critical condition. game has not been rescheduled as of tuesday night.

This is most likely Commotio cordis , a blunt force trauma to the heart/ chest right when the heart is resetting between beats which causes cardiac arrest, the heart not resetting and beating again. I hope this young man pulls thru.

This video doesn't even come close to capturing how horrible it was to watch. It's live tv so the network to constantly cut to commercials because there wasn't nothing to show or say except that no one knew what happened and there were no updates. The stadium was utterly silent, and all the commentators looked like they were about to cry. Players and audience members were in tears. The player was literally dead on the field and having the paramedics frantically administer CPR and defrib for 9 minutes was one of the worst things I've ever seen on tv.

It's almost like it's a bad thing to take a fully grown man wearing a helmet head first into your sternum at a full sprint

Prayers for Mr. Hamlin. This has occurred more than once in hockey. Hockey hits are much harder than football hits ( think two big men over 200 lbs each colliding at 20 or more mph). Chris Pronger’s heart stopped when he was hit directly in the chest by a slap shot. That frozen puck can travel 100 mph. As big and fit as these athletes are a bad contact can have really bad outcomes.

This was insane to watch. This poor guy died twice. Once on the field where he was brought back to life with over 9 minutes of CPR and defibrillation. Then again, in the hospital, where he was again resuscitated. It's been more than 30 hours now, and he is still in critical condition, surviving on a ventilator. Even if he pulls through, he can still have life altering side effects. Many people suspect the cardiac arrest was due to commotio cordis. A very rare instance of an impact to the chest causing the heart to stop. Just hope he pulls through with no lasting issues.

I also play lacrosse which is a sport that would have (on average) 1 player die a year from a ball hitting the chest in the exact right spot, at the exact perfect time in the rhythm, that causes your heart to instantly stop. Recently, new chest gear was made mandatory that would prevent this.

Yeah, it had to do with the blunt hit he took in the chest. It’s rare, but does happen in sports like baseball and hockey. Another commenter has done a good job explaining it.

This is the lead story across the US. It's the 2nd horrible pro sports incident in Cincy in the last 30 years. The Cincinnati Reds baseball team used to be the 1st game played to start the season in MLB because they were the 1st pro team. In 1996 on Opening Day, which is an official holiday in Cincy, the home plate Umpire John McSherry collapsed behind the plate and died. The only positive to take away from this tragedy last night is that 2 cities who were enemies at the start of the game became ONE immediately. For an answer to what may have happened I recommend Brian Sutterer MD explanation on YT

They did CPR n used the defibrillator, they worked on him for over 7 mins n at the hospital they ended up put him on a ventilator The player on their other team (85) got very upset ,

Tragic incident it is really. Not to so speculate but I believe this injury is called commotio cordis, basically if you get hit in the chest hard enough at the EXACT right(or maybe wrong) time in the rhythm of your heart. An extremely rare condition you think you only read about

It was not a cardiac problem tho, it was the impact that caused de hearth to stop.

Fans from both teams left the stadium and went to the hospital to show their support. Proof that people still have love in their hearts. The game is just a game.

Chest Compressions Chest Compressions Chest Compressions.

From Cincinnati and this was tragic.

Cardiac arrest is typically the result of a problem with the electrical aspects of heart function. His agent reported a few hours ago that his vital signs have returned to normal. They induce a coma and lower body temperature to allow the body to heal more easily. Heart conductivity problems don't always show up on tests as they can be intermittent.

Its the first time in like 100 years of NFL something like this has happened . Maybe one person in the 1950’s or 60’s had died. This wasn’t a usual risk of the game. There is no reason to bring in anymore regulations or down talk the NFL. The guy was like 5’11” and weighed 180 lbs And he went full blast into a man that weighed 260 and was like 6’4. Truth is , he was too small to be in the NFL And the helmet to his chest stopped his heart. A few years ago a high school baseball player in my town got hit in the chest by a line drive. It killed him. Same type of thing.