Meet the ‘real hero’ who saved Damar Hamlin’s life: Oklahoma-born assistant trainer Denny Kellington

There are plenty of people who have been praised for their handling of the traumatic events on Monday night after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field, but none more so than Denny Kellington, whose quick reactions saved the life of security.

Hamlin collapsed after hitting a single off Bengals catcher Tee Higgins in the first quarter, prompting medical personnel to rush into action.

Brain injuries can occur rapidly in patients going into cardiac arrest with tissue beginning to die within minutes of being deprived of oxygen and Kellington’s quick reactions in administering CPR to Hamlin have proven to be a matter of life and death.

After news circulated of Hamlin showing signs of improvement and communicating with his teammates, people began searching for the man who began performing life-saving CPR immediately.

That man was Kellington, an Oklahoma State University graduate who has been with the Bills for five years after spending more than a decade as head track coach at Syracuse University.

Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during the contest in Cincinnati. Doctors say Hamlin initially had a pulse in the stadium and then lost it. It was then that Kellington was able to quickly restart his heart and restore blood flow to his brain as players on both teams and millions of viewers looked on in shock.

Doctors treating Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said the immediate recognition that something was significantly wrong and the quick response by Kellington and others was crucial to his survival.

“The Bills coaching staff that was with him immediately recognized that this was no run-of-the-mill injury and that they had a major event on their hands and responded immediately,” Dr. Timothy Pritts told reporters on Monday. Thursday.

‘This was as good as something like this can work in very challenging circumstances. They did a fantastic job, which is why we’re here today.’

Despite the positive news, doctors said the 24-year-old Hamlin was still seriously ill and remained in the intensive care unit, adding that the focus was on getting him off the ventilator “and on the road to recovery.” .

So who is Kellington? After earning his bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma State as a member of the Cowboys football team’s coaching staff as an intern from 1996-1999.

From there, he interned with the Denver Broncos as an athletic training intern.

After earning his degree in 2002, he went abroad to be an assistant athletic trainer for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.

She returned to Ohio State after one season in the Netherlands and worked with the women’s field hockey and lacrosse teams while earning her master’s degree.

After his time there, he settled in central New York as the head track coach of the Syracuse Orange football team.

He stayed in that position for more than a decade before deciding to move two hours west to his current position with the Bills in 2017.

It was with the Bills that Kellington was doing his job, one he had been trained to do all his life.

Despite the preparation, Bills head coach Sean McDermott stated that Kellington’s actions were “incredible”.

“For an assistant to find himself in that position and need to take the steps that he did … it’s amazing,” McDermott told reporters.

‘You speak of a true leader, a true hero in saving Damar’s life. I admire his strength.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen echoed McDermott’s sentiments about the coaching staff and Kellington, who has been with the Bills for nearly six years.

“I want to thank our training staff for going out, not knowing what was going on, but going through a checklist … and saving his life,” an emotional Allen said.

Allen added that the news Thursday that Hamlin was awake and communicating with medical staff brought “many tears of joy” after tears of pain rolled down the players’ faces on Monday.

And it’s because of his training, knowledge and immediate action that NFL fans are already calling for Kellington to be properly honored.

Supporters are calling on Kellington and the rest of the Bills coaching staff to be notably enshrined in Canton, Ohio, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for their life-saving actions in Cincinnati.

Whether or not Kellington receives a gold jacket is up to the league and the selection committee. But from now on, the coaching staff and the Bills themselves will receive a raucous ovation at their final home game of the season this Sunday.

If that jacket is not in his future, Kellington will be remembered for what he did in that field: saving the life of a young man in need of help and being the man who provided it while the rest of the world watched. and he prayed for the best possible outcome.