could chest trauma be the cause of damar hamlin’s collapse?

while there are no confirmations of what caused the buffalo bills player's collapse, medical correspondents say it is possible that a blow to his chest during a tackle could be the culprit.

by emma jones

published jan 03, 2023

last updated feb 16, 2023

3 minute read

join the conversation

3 minute read

join the conversation

did damar hamlin’s collision with tee higgins cause cardiac arrest?

monday night’s game between buffalo bills and cincinnati bengals game was suspended in the first quarter after bills safety damar hamlin collapsed following a play. sam greene / usa today

buffalo bills receiver damar hamlin remains in critical condition tuesday afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest event during the monday night game. twenty-four-year-old hamlin tackled cincinnati bengals receiver tee higgins during a routine play in the first quarter of the game. videos of the footage show higgins’ helmet collided with hamlin’s chest as both fell to the ground. hamlin initially got to his feet before falling backwards, unresponsive.

medical staff administered cpr and oxygen to the buffalo bills safety for more than thirty minutes before transporting him to hospital. the team later confirmed in a statement hamlin had a pulse when he was transferred off the field.

“damar hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the bengals. his heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the uc medical center for further testing and treatment,” read a statement posted to the bills’ twitter account. “he is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”

the rest of the game was postponed and many nfl teams cancelled media availabilities on tuesday out of respect for the athlete.

a friend of the family said the player’s relatives remained in good spirits tuesday, and declined to provide further details on hamlin’s condition. a gofundme set up to benefit the player’s toy drive has raised more than four million dollars by tuesday afternoon, with donors offering prayers and support to hamlin and his family.

players also reflected on the mental and physical risks of the game, which have come under scrutiny in recent years.

“what we saw last night was something that we’ve never have seen before,” indianapolis colts safety rodney mcleod jr. told cnn. “in my 11 years in the nfl, i never experienced anything like that, and that brings the reality [of] the sport to life.”

could a one-in-a-million collision be the cause of damar hamlin’s collapse?

while there are no confirmations on what caused hamlin’s collapse, cardiologists and sports medicine doctors began discussing the possibility that the blow to hamlin’s chest by tee higgins’ helmet could have something to do with the traumatic event.

“if you get hit in the chest, if it happens between heartbeats in a very small window, it can put the heart in ventricular fibrillation,” university of maryland medical system cardiologist dr. scott jerome told the baltimore sun.

a typical heartbeat is driven by electrical stimulus, generated by the sinus node towards the top right of the heart. this current first triggers the muscles in the heart’s atria to contract, pushing blood into the ventricles. the current continues to travel down to the atrioventricular node, causing the ventricles to contract a fraction of a second after the atria and pumping the blood out of the heart.

for a very brief period after the ventricles contract, the electrical activity “resets” to prepare for the next heartbeat. a blow to the left ventricle of the heart at this precise moment the heart is re-polarizing may discombobulate the heart’s rhythm, causing a rapid or disorganized heartbeat that is often fatal.

“this is something you hear about maybe a dozen times a year, and not typically in football,” sanjay gupta, cnn’s chief medical correspondent, said tuesday morning. “sports like baseball, where you get a small projectile that travels at a high rate of speed, hits the chest at the right spot at the wrong time, and causes the heart to go into an abnormal heart rhythm.”

the risk window for this injury — called commotio cordis — lasts only milliseconds, making it an extremely rare occurrence. the majority of cases recorded are in teenage males, however, it is unclear if this is because young males have historically been more involved in sports that involve a risk of trauma to the chest — like lacrosse, baseball or martial arts — or if they are physically more vulnerable to this injury.

in the event of commotio cordis, cpr can help to maintain the flow of oxygen to critical organs until a defibrillator is applied. the defibrillator is used to restart a normal heart rhythm, so quick access to a device like an automatic external defibrillator (aed) is critical for the best chance of recovering a pulse.