One of the most exciting matches of the regular season was expected on Monday of the 17th game week of the National Football League (NFL). Last seasons met with each other Super Bowl finalist Cincinnati “Bengals” and one of the favorites of the tournament Buffalo “Bills”. The game carried a lot of weight in the race for the lead in the American Football Conference, which would give the potential winning team a chance to rest in the first round of the playoffs.
The game broke down in the first quarter when Cincinnati linebacker Tee Higgins and Buffalo collided in a typical football scrimmage. security guard position player DeMars Hamlin. After the collision, Hamlin got to his feet, but was knocked unconscious a second later. An extremely rare event had occurred, which is written about as possible in medical books, but in life it is possible only as a result of a coincidence of circumstances.
Higgins crashed into Hamlin’s chest just at the very brief moment of a pulse in the heart rhythm, which sets off a further chain reaction for the heart to function properly. Unfortunately, this seemingly innocent collision of players knocked Hamlin’s heart rhythm out of order and the athlete went into cardiac arrest. For more than ten minutes, medical personnel performed CPR and CPR to resuscitate Hamlin.
Denny Kellington a REAL LIFE HERO. He performed CPR on Damar Hamlin on the field and was crucial in saving his life. pic.twitter.com/FHpng0bPOD
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 5, 2023
Both the Buffalo and Cincinnati football players, who are used to head injuries and broken bones in such a cruel sport as American football, did not easily control the tears. Hamlin was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Clinic in critical condition, the only high-profile hospital in the area capable of handling such an acute patient.
The professionalism and quick response of the medical staff saved Hamlin’s life. The athlete was initially kept on a breathing tube after waking up from a coma. Hamlin’s first question to the doctors in written form was “Did we win?” To which the doctors replied that Hamlin had won the game of life.
In the middle of the week, the breathing tube was removed and the football player was breathing on his own, and was also able to communicate with his family and doctors. On Sunday, the football player watched his team’s victory over the New England “Patriots” from the ward. Hamlin is making rapid progress and his condition has improved, but he will continue to be monitored at the Cardiology Institute at Buffalo Medical Center in the coming weeks. Hamlin successfully survived the flight from Ohio to Buffalo under the supervision of doctors.
Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home! ????????????.
— ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? (@HamlinIsland) January 9, 2023
The game itself between the teams of Cincinnati and Buffalo did not restart. For a long time, the fans were kept in the dark so that the crowd of 65,000 spectators would not start to leave the Cincinnati stadium and make it difficult for the ambulance to get to the hospital. The teams’ head coaches Sean McDermott and Zach Taylor agreed that the game would not continue after the accident.
Since the game took place so close to the end of the regular season, it was not possible to organize a practical opportunity to play the game later. Therefore, the league put forward several potential solutions. Among them, with the relevant results in the last round of games, there was a possibility that Cincinnati and Baltimore “Ravens” would play each other play-off game, the home team could have been decided by a coin toss, but the Bengals’ victory at the end of the regular season prevented that. If the “Bills” and “Bengals” cross paths in the playoffs, then the duel will be played on a neutral field.
How the NFL community came together after the accident was reflected in the proceeds of DeMar Hamlin’s charity. More than 8.5 million US dollars were donated during the week.
Sending our love to you, @HamlinIsland. ❤️???? pic.twitter.com/sG1JkDkmtJ
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 10, 2023
The Buffalo Bills drafted Hamlin, a tight end from the University of Pittsburgh, in the sixth round of the 2021 draft with the 212th overall pick. In his rookie season, Hamlin was a special teams player, but this season the football player got the opportunity to play in the Bills’ starting lineup.
This weekend, the NFL playoffs will begin with the “wild card” rounds. The Buffalo “Bills” will start a duel with the Miami “Dolphins” on Sunday at 20:00 Latvian time.
Resources used:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id…
