On Jan. 2, 24 year old safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the Monday night football game, Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills.

In the middle of the first quarter, Hamlin went for an open-field tackle. Several seconds later, Hamlin collapsed on the field. Trainers and medics spent 9 minutes doing CPR, medics were able to get Hamlin’s heartbeat going again, and was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Cardiologist are under the impression that what happened to Hamlin was commotio cordis, which is when the heartbeat is vulnerable and taking a hard impact to the chest, more information at ncbi.

Hamlin was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 2021 draft, he got selected in the sixth round coming out of the University of Pittsburgh. Hamlin is currently in his second season with the Bills, after week two of the 2022 season, he was able to fill in the starting safety spot after Micah Hyde fell to a neck injury. In week nine Hamlin led his team in tackles with a total of 12.

Hamlin and his family have been in the hospital for the past week, his family came out and spoke about how he has been getting better each day, but it will be a while before he’s back to full health. Following this tragic event, supporters around the world helped donate to the GoFundMe he created in 2020. The donation is for a toy drive called,  Chasing M’s Foundation, the foundation has raised 7 million dollars this week.

The anticipated game is postponed and has no source of being replayed. The NFL had a meeting, Friday, Jan. 6, owners from across the league have agreed on not finishing the game. Teammates and fans are sending prayers and supporting his family through this tough time and hoping Hamlin can make a full recovery from this scary injury.