Damar Hamlin is still in critical condition but appears to be “neurologically intact,” the Buffalo Bills said in a statement Thursday, three days after the 24-year-old collapsed in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Quoting doctors from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the team said the player had “seeded remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours”.
The bills had said wednesday safety was in intensive care in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest.
Hamlin’s uncle Dorrian Glenn spoke to reporters outside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Tuesday night and said his nephew’s heart stopped twice, once on the field and back to the hospital, CBS Chicago. Charlie DeMar reported. Glenn also said that Hamlin had lung damage and cannot breathe on its own. The player was getting 100% oxygen from a ventilator, but it was down to 50%, he said.
“His lungs continue to heal and he’s making steady progress,” the Bills said Thursday.
What happened at the Monday night football game?
With 5:58 to go into the first quarter of the game, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who was heading the ball, hit Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety, in the chest with his helmet during a play. Hamlin dragged Higgins on the ground. Hamlin got up right after – but seconds later he collapsed.
Medical personnel attended to Hamlin for 19 minutes in the field, the Associated Press reported, and Hamlin received both CPR and required an automated external defibrillator. CBS Sports reported He was placed on a stretcher, then put in an ambulance, where he received oxygen, to be taken to hospital.
The remainder of the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals has been postponed.
The bills said early tuesday that Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest and had his heart rate restored on the field, and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He was sedated and listed in critical condition, the team said.
In an update Wednesday, the team tweeted that Hamlin “remains in intensive care in critical condition with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight. He is expected to remain in intensive care as his health care team continues to monitor and treat him.”
Fans gathered in front of the hospital following Hamlin’s injury, and donated millions of dollars to Hamlin’s efforts to buy Christmas toys for children in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh.
What is the “commotio cordis”?
While it’s not yet known exactly what Hamlin went through, CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus said Hamlin may have suffered from what is called commotio cordiswhich is a cardiac arrhythmia that occurs when a person receives a direct blow to the chest.
Agus said about 30 cases of commotio cordis occur in the United States each year, including among Little League players who are hit in the chest with a ball.
Describing the condition as “a confusion of the heart”, where the heart muscle pumps erratically, Agus said the energy from the blow interferes with the electrical signals in the heart, creating a new beat called ventricular fibrillation – a rapid heartbeat. and erratic that does not pump blood to the brain. When this happens, Agus said the heart should return to a regular rhythm.
“That’s why there are defibrillators on the sidelines of games, it’s to be able to use them to shock the best heart at a steady rate,” he said.
Agus said every minute that blood flow to the brain is stopped increases the potential for serious consequences, including death.
“Every minute of waiting roughly represents a 10% increase in the likelihood of death – so the sooner you do it, the better,” he said.
There is a question whether Hamlin suffered a brain injury due to his cardiac arrest. The sooner they were able to get his heart started, Agus said, the more likely he is to recover quickly.
“People who don’t even know us are showing us their love and support and we are very grateful for that,” said Glenn, the player’s uncle. “I know these prayers are helping him because he is definitely recovering. … God has a mission for him and that is why he is still here.”
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