cincinnati
CNN
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After suffering a cardiac arrest midway through Monday’s game, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin remains sedated on a ventilator as doctors struggle to let him breathe on his own, according to an update from The Player’s Uncle.
The 24-year-old was still in critical condition as of Tuesday night, his uncle Dorian Glenn told CNN after collapsing on the court the night before leading to the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals. stopped, and stunned a packed stadium before being thrilled by Hamlin’s tackle on the Bengals wide receiver.
Seconds later, medical staff rushed onto the field to perform CPR and resuscitate Hamlin in front of his teammates, many of whom fell to their knees, praying or openly crying and hugging each other.
Hamlin will be resuscitated twice that night — once on the field and once he was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was still being treated Tuesday night, his uncle said.
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“I’m not a crybaby, but I’ve never cried so much in my life. Just wondering, like, my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back,” Glenn said.
According to Glenn, Hamlin is on a ventilator to relieve pressure on his already damaged lungs. Doctors told Glenn that his nephew was also “turned prone” in hospital to help drain blood from his lungs, adding, “He appears to be on an upward trend.”
The game was suspended with nearly six minutes left in the first quarter and then officially postponed. The NFL said Tuesday that it will not resume play this week and has not decided whether to continue play at a later date.
On-field injuries are not uncommon in the league, which often resumes play even in severe cases, but several current and former players said Hamlin’s cardiac arrest felt particularly troubling as medical staff attended to fans and players. Watched down trying to save his life.
Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said he realized the severity of his teammates’ illnesses while Hamlin remained on the field as more medical staff were called in.
“In that moment, you’re just thinking, ‘What can I do? What can we do?’ It immediately puts you in a state of prayer,” Dawkins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Believe it or not, only a higher power can really control what comes next. Those of us who help also assist a higher power.”
Hamlin’s closure is just the latest in a series of tragic blows to the players and the Buffalo community, which has seen at least 41 people killed in the past few months in Erie County, New York, after a racist mass shooting and a historic snowstorm. die. “You know, Buffalo just keeps getting hit,” Dawkins said.
As prayers and well wishes from star athletes, fans and state leaders poured in, Hamlin and his family received overwhelming support. The player’s fundraiser for his Chasing M’s Foundation toy drive has raised nearly $6 million since he was hospitalized.
During a prayer service for the players on Tuesday night, community members described the heartbreak of watching “one of our own” endure such a crisis.
“All you can do right now is pray for Damar. This man, not a football player, or Buffalo Bill, but this man. He’s got to get through this,” said Gillian Handsworth, the city’s poet laureate (Jillian Hanesworth) said.
It’s unclear what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest — a condition caused by an electrical disturbance that causes the heart to suddenly stop beating normally. Death can happen quickly if help is not provided immediately. It is different from a heart attack or heart failure.
When the heart is beating poorly, fluid can sometimes back up into the lungs, making it difficult for medical staff to supply oxygen to patients, explained CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So they’ll turn the prone person over into a prone position to allow for easier breathing.
Gupta also said it sounds like Hamlin still has severe heart dysfunction and his heart can’t pump enough blood.
One of the treatment options is to reduce the body’s need for oxygenated blood, he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“So you want to improve circulation volume, but in the meantime, you can also reduce demand by sedating someone and putting them on a ventilator,” he said. “Sometimes they even use coolant, which is called hypothermia, which basically puts the body in an almost more hibernating state so that it doesn’t need as much oxygenated blood. That’s the part where he needs to be on a ventilator. reason.”
In a statement Tuesday, the Hamlin family thanked UC Medical Center staff for “the exceptional care provided to Damar.”
“On behalf of our family, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for the love and support extended to Damar during this challenging time. We have been touched by the prayers, kind words and donations from fans across the country,” the statement read.
Several star athletes – including tennis players coco goffNFL’s JJ Watt and NBA legend LeBron James – applaud NFL’s decision to postpone game, stress Hamlin’s safe recovery is more important than game outcome
Former NFL player Donté Stallworth said the league’s decision to postpone games would not have happened a few years ago. “Five or 10 years ago, the game could have restarted,” he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
“I don’t know if you can make the game safer,” he said. “It’s a brutal sport. I think people forget that. They sometimes look at players more like a commodity — especially fantasy football. Sometimes we forget the human side, that these players are actually people and they There’s a family, a wife and kids,” he added, noting that Hamlin’s “mother saw it all firsthand.”
Dawkins said he was relieved and grateful his team didn’t have to continue playing.
“The fact that we don’t have to go back and play on that court shows that we care and all we can ask is that we be treated like human beings,” he said. “Because most people just see us as athletes, as superstars. Superstars, some people love celebrities, but in that moment they see us as human beings.”
Bills players and staff are still processing Monday night’s events, sources inside the team told CNN’s Coy Wire.
The ongoing onslaught of Hamlin’s hospitalization — in addition to a mass shooting in the city in May, a deadly snowstorm in December, a home game shift to Detroit in November and being stuck in Chicago over the holidays — has implications for club-related issues. It was heavy for everyone, the source said.
“Everyone was exhausted,” the source told Wire, adding that the team’s flight back to New York didn’t land until 3:30 a.m. ET Tuesday.