[ad_1]
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was given CPR and treated with a defibrillator after collapsing on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals during Monday Night Football, and is listed in critical condition according to the league after the scary ordeal.
The game was announced as officially suspended by the league on ESPN at 10pm ET.
Hamlin tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter and got up briefly before falling backwards to the ground.
An ambulance raced on the field to treat the safety, who was surrounded by players from both sides and treated for 16 minutes before being immobilized and taken off the field.
A statement released by the league read, ‘Tonight’s Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game has been postponed after Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced.
‘Hamlin received immediate medical attention on the field by team and independent medical staff and local paramedics. He was then transported to a local hospital where he is in critical condition.
‘Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
‘The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association which is in agreement with postponing the game.’
Bills players prayed for their teammate after he was driven away.
As of 9:20pm, Hamlin had a pulse but is not currently breathing on his own, according to Joe Danneman of FOX19 Now in Cincinnati.
Tricia Macke, also of FOX 19, reported at 9:53 pm ET that Hamlin had been intubated,
Hamlin got on his feet briefly after making the tackle on Tee Higgins
But he collapsed moments later and was later taken away in an ambulance
The report also said that the 24-year-old was treated with an automated external defibrillator, and was being transported to the University of Cincinnati hospital.
According to ESPN, Hamlin’s family were watching the game and came down to be with him as he left in the ambulance
During the lengthy and scary ordeal, the ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast cut to commercial on four occasions as Hamlin was receiving treatment.
Hamlin was given oxygen in the ambulance, and the game was ultimately suspended temporarily as both teams headed back to their respective locker rooms.
Cam Lewis and Siran Neal of the Buffalo Bills react to teammate Damar Hamlin collapsing
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen reacts to the injury of safety Damar Hamlin
Unsurprisingly, both sides appeared extremely startled by the situation, with the emotions of Hamlin’s teammates Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen among those shown on camera.
Emotions also ran high for ESPN’s broadcast crew, as analyst Booger McFarland offered an important bit of perspective.
‘When you bring CPR out, you’re trying to help someone breathe. We’re talking life or death now,’ he said.
‘That’s real. What we do is just a game. When you involve life and death, it’s totally different.’
‘No one´s been through this,’ longtime NFL quarterback Troy Aikman added.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it, either.’
ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter weighed in as well.
‘It is all about this young man and how he’s doing and everybody thinking and praying for him, every team, every player, every individual, everybody who’s watching Monday night football, everybody who tuned in to see this highly anticipated game, nobody cares about that right now.
While medical personnel were gathered around Hamlin, his uniform was cut off.
Footage emerged later of Hamlin’s ambulance arriving at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Players stand around the ambulance that Hamlin was being treated in
Bills teammates prayed for Hamlin after the injury occurred
The Bills’ Ed Oliver reacts after teammate Hamlin is hurt in the first quarter of the game
Hamlin briefly was on his feet after making the tackle but collapsed moments later
The 24-year-old Hamlin spent five years of college at Pitt — his hometown — and appeared in 48 games for the Panthers over that span. He was a second-team All-ACC performer as a senior, was voted a team captain and was picked to play in the Senior Bowl.
He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bills in 2021, played in 14 games as a rookie and then became a starter this year once Micah Hyde was lost for the season to injury.
Entering the game, the 6-foot, 200-pound Hamlin had 91 tackles, including 63 solo tackles, and 1 1/2 sacks.
[ad_2]
Source link
