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damar hamlin of buffalo bills confirms chest trauma was the cause of january collapse

hamlin, who suffered commotio cordis — when a blow to the left ventricle of the heart upsets the heart’s rhythm and causes cardiac arrest — plans to return to the game, saying: "fear is a choice."

by emma jones
published apr 20, 2023
last updated apr 26, 2023
read time 4 minute read
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read time 4 minute read
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buffalo bills receiver damar hamlin has confirmed the reason for his january collapse was commotio cordis, an extremely rare event where trauma to the chest can cause cardiac arrest. on january 2nd, the 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.
at his first press conference since the collapse, hamlin confirmed the condition that caused the cardiac arrest, and assured fans he intended to make a comeback.
“the diagnosis of, pretty much, what happened to me was basically commotio cordis,” hamlin said. “it’s a direct blow at a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest, and five to seven seconds later, you fall out.”
according to the bills general manager, brandon beane, hamlin has been cleared by three different specialists to return to the game. before speaking to reporters, hamlin had been taking part in voluntary off-season workouts at the bills’ practice facility in orchard park, new york.
the return to sport approval was likely due to several factors, including no evidence of ongoing issues with the heart’s function or electrical rhythm, cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta explained on cnn news central.

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“i just want to show people that fear is a choice. you can keep going at something without having the answers and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel,” hamlin said. “you might feel anxious – you might feel any type of way – but you just keep putting that right foot in front of the left one and you keep going. i want to stand for that.”
during the january game, 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 hamlin had a pulse when he was transferred off the field, and was admitted to the uc medical center in critical condition.
a gofundme set up to benefit the player’s toy drive has raised more than nine million dollars since the event, with donors offering prayers and support to hamlin and his family.

what is commotio cordis, and how did it cause damar hamlin’s collapse?

“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 shortly after the january game.
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.
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in a normal heart beat, the atria of the heart contract, pushing blood to the ventricles. the ventricles then contract a fraction of a second later, pushing blood out of the heart.
in a normal heart beat, the atria of the heart contract, pushing blood to the ventricles. the ventricles then contract a fraction of a second later, pushing blood out of the heart. getty
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. “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 lasts only milliseconds, making it an extremely rare occurrence. (only 334 cases in the united states have been recorded since 1980, according to one study.) the vast 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.
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to find out what to do in the case of cardiac arrest, click here.
*this article is an update on a story initially published on 2023-01-03.
emma jones is a multimedia editor with healthing. you can reach her at emjones@postmedia.com or on instagram and twitter @jonesyjourn.
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