The Game of Life

The January 2nd Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills game started off smoothly.  The Bengals had a 7-3 lead over the Bills in the first quarter before the Bills’ safety, 24-year-old Damar Hamlin, made a routine tackle on the Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. After the tackle, Hamlin got to his feet and took two steps before immediately collapsing on the ground. Higgins was unharmed. Hamlin went into a period of cardiac arrest on the field and EMTs had to come out and perform CPR to resuscitate him. Then, in critical condition, he was brought to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. After Hamlin’s injury, the game was temporarily suspended but after roughly an hour the game was to be postponed. The NFL later came out saying the game would not be resumed and that it would indefinitely be canceled, meaning that each team would go into the postseason with one less game played than everyone else.

After making steady progress, Hamlin was moved to the Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute for additional treatment. Hamlin’s status was improved from critical on the morning of Monday, January 9th, according to Cincinnati medical professionals, and he also satisfied a number of other prerequisites for release, such as no longer requiring intensive nursing care or extensive breathing therapy. 

The cause of Hamlin’s heart stopping is still unknown.  But cardiac specialists claimed that the impact to his chest might have caused an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, in his heart.  It takes only a few moments to cause that rare harm; the heart must be relaxed when the chest is impacted.  

Hamlin’s first question upon waking up, according to his doctors, was “Did we win?”  “The answer is yes, Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life,” Dr. Timothy Pritts told reporters in a conference call from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin was staying and being monitored after his injury in Monday night’s game.  Since waking up Hamlin has started to write to his family and other loved ones who have been by his bedside since he suffered his heart arrest.

With the news of this injury, critics were quick to call out the dangerous nature of the sport of football.  An interview was conducted with Paul Kolody, Hunterdon Central’s strength and conditioning coach who also has experience in Athletic Training.  When asked about the situation he said, “I think that the NFL is taking the necessary steps…..in players’ safety and what’s going on.”  Coach Kolody has worked with many different types of athletes and sports causing him to have seen many injuries.  He was able to connect what happened in the case of Monday night’s game with the opportunity that central offers its athletes, “The first thing I thought was how lucky he was to have the team of experts around him to help save his life, that’s what we are trained for…. He would have the same probability at Central with some of the staff we have available, and the training we have”.  Like at many professional games, at Central sporting events, there are medics and coaches on hand who are trained to act quickly in the event of any injury, whether it is of this caliber or not.

Thanks to the medical professionals and staff on the scene at the Bengals v Bills game on January 2nd, Damar Hamlin’s life was able to be saved and it appears he will be able to make a full recovery. Hunterdon Central is sure to take similar precautions at all of its games as well to ensure the health of both Central students and those from the opposing teams. While sports are focused so highly on competition and winning, the issue of safety and health is still ever present.  In Hamlin’s case, everyone was able to put aside their differences and just hope that he got better, and that is what sports are about, a united force that serves to bring people together.