Prayers for Damar Hamlin

Last night, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after a tackle. He suffered a cardiac arrest and immediately received advanced CPR. The team released a statement that medical personnel were able to restore a heartbeat on the field, he was transported to a local emergency department and as of early this morning he remained intubated in critical condition.

Last night as I watched the young man collapse I was scared. This is a scenario I’ve trained for and been in, but it doesn’t make it easier. In fact, it’s harder to watch from a distance. We all wanted more information last night. I wish that I could have brought you comfort by explaining what was happening. The truth is we didn’t have enough information at the time and this is not a situation where anyone should be speculating.

Damar collapsed after a blunt trauma to his chest. What caused that to happen is still unknown to us. There are multiple possibilities that all had to be investigated by doctors overnight. Sometimes an athlete falling to the ground unprotected causes additional injuries; we don’t know if that happened here. We await more information.

I continue to hope and pray for Damar Hamlin, his loved ones, and the medical team caring for him. I draw hope and comfort from the knowledge that he is a young athlete who received the best care possible within seconds of his medical emergency.