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BREAKING NEWS: Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, received CPR after collapsing on the field in shocking scenes during the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin received CPR after collapsing on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals during Monday Night Football.
Hamlin tackled Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter and got up briefly before falling backward to the ground.
An ambulance entered the pitch to attend to security, who were surrounded by players from both sides and received treatment for 16 minutes before being restrained and carried off the pitch.
Bills players prayed for their teammate after he was taken away.
Hamlin has a pulse, but is currently not breathing on his own, according to Joe Danneman of FOX19 Now in Cincinnati.
Damar Hamlin collapsed on his back to the ground after making a tackle on Tee Higgins
Cam Lewis and Siran Neal of the Buffalo Bills react to teammate Damar Hamlin’s collapse
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen reacts to safety Damar Hamlin’s injury
The report also said the 24-year-old was treated with an automated external defibrillator and was being transported to the University of Cincinnati hospital.
During the long and terrifying ordeal, ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast went commercial four times while Hamlin was receiving treatment.
Hamlin was given oxygen in the ambulance, and play was eventually temporarily suspended while both teams returned to their respective locker rooms.
Unsurprisingly, both parties seemed extremely surprised by the situation, with the emotions of Hamlin’s teammates Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen among those shown on camera.
Emotions also ran high for the ESPN broadcast team, as analyst Booger McFarland offered an important perspective.
‘When you bring up CPR, you’re trying to help someone breathe. We are talking about life and death now,” she said.
‘This is real. What we do is just a game. When you involve life and death, it is totally different.
Nobody’s been through this,” added veteran NFL quarterback Troy Aikman.
I have never seen anything like it either.
As medical personnel gathered around Hamlin, they cut off his uniform.
The players stand around the ambulance in which Hamlin was being treated.
Bills teammates prayed for Hamlin after the injury occurred
Bills’ Ed Oliver reacts after teammate Hamlin gets hurt in the first quarter of the game
Hamlin rose to his feet briefly after making the tackle, but collapsed moments later.
Hamlin, 24, spent five years of college in Pitt, his hometown, appearing in 48 games for the Panthers during that span. He was a second-team All-ACC player as a senior, was voted team captain and was selected to play in the Senior Bowl.
He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bills in 2021, played in 14 games as a rookie and then became a starter this year after Micah Hyde missed the season with injury.
Entering the game, the 6-foot, 200-pound Hamlin had 91 tackles, including 63 solo tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.