January 3, 2022 Damar Hamlin news

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, is in critical condition after collapsing on the field on Monday night during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here's what we know:

What happened: Moments after getting up from an open field tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, Hamlin fell on his back.

Within 10 seconds, Bills team trainers were treating the player. An ambulance was brought onto the field in under five minutes, footage shows, and Hamlin received CPR, according to an ESPN broadcast. He was then taken to hospital.

Hamlin's status: The player suffered a cardiac arrest following the hit from the tackle, and his heartbeat was restored on the field, the Bills said in a statement on Twitter early Tuesday.

Hamlin was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further testing and treatment, where he is now sedated, the Bills added.

The game: Play was suspended at 5:58 of the first quarter, then the game was officially postponed. The NFL said more details on next steps would come at an "appropriate time," adding that Hamlin's wellbeing was the priority.

The team: Some of Hamlin’s teammates stayed in Cincinnati while the rest of the team travels back to Buffalo Tuesday morning. Buffalo is in New York state, near the US-Canada border.

Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs arrived at the hospital where Hamlin was being treated late Monday night, ESPN’s broadcast showed.

A bit about Hamlin: The 24-year-old Pennsylvania native joined the Bills in 2021 as a sixth-round draft pick from the University of Pittsburgh. He has played every game this season.

According to his Pittsburgh Panthers player bio, he was redshirted — meaning he sat out games while remaining on the team — in 2016 due to injury. The NFL site added that he also missed time due to injuries in 2017 and 2019.

CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire talked early Tuesday about the unsettling emotions last night’s events had sparked within him, given the similarities between his NFL career and Damar Hamlin’s. Wire played six seasons for the Bills between 2002 and 2007.

“Seeing those images scratched open a lot of mental wounds for me personally. I played six of my NFL seasons there, in Buffalo, in that stadium. I played the same position. I played safety there. I’ve experienced injury, loss of consciousness … I’ve been in situations where an ambulance has come on the field, so it resonates,” Wire told CNN This Morning.

Wire expressed his sympathies with Hamlin’s family and team, but also paused to praise the decision not to resume play after the tragic incident.

Wire recalled two instances when former teammates of his – including former Bills player Kevin Everett – were paralyzed after suffering a trauma during the game.

“In both of those games, ambulances came to the field, there were players huddled, there were tears, there was crying – just like we saw last night. But those games went on. The one last night did not. I think that’s a huge statement that’s being made.”

Wire said he hopes that this “paradigm shift” continues, and begins to “echo down through the collegiate and high school and youth levels.”

Tee Higgins, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who Damar Hamlin tackled seconds before collapsing, has joined dozens of NFL players in publicly sending thoughts and prayers to the Buffalo Bills safety.

"I’m praying that you pull through bro," Higgins tweeted after the game between the teams was postponed.

A number of Bills and Bengals players sent similar messages, after coming together on the field to pray as an ambulance carried Hamlin to hospital.

"I wanna send a prayer to Damar and his family," Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase wrote. Bills quarterback Josh Allen added: "Please pray for our brother."

Hamlin "is a kind caring extremely hard worker," Bills offensive lineman Rodger Saffold said. "He is loyal honest and can always put a smile on your face."

Teams and individuals around the league followed suit. "Heart is extremely heavy right now ... Life is too important. Cherish every moment," Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield wrote on Twitter.

"Absolutely speechless.. please pull through Damar!" added Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt.

"This game should’ve been called, nobody is concerned about football right now," Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray wrote after the injury. The game was initially suspended, and then postponed, following the play on which Hamlin was hurt.

Jessica Pegula, an American tennis player and the daughter of the Bills' owners, also commented on Hamlin after playing in the United Cup in Australia.

“It's just terrible. There's really no words," Pegula told Reuters. "I'm glad they stopped the game. It brings you back to there's a lot of bigger things that are more important than sports and games. It was pretty scary."

Damar Hamlin’s recovery could depend on how long he was in cardiac arrest after he collapsed mid-game Monday night, Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an emergency room specialist, told CNN early Tuesday morning.

Hamlin was playing safety for the Buffalo Bills on Monday night when he suddenly collapsed after a tackle on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin stood up immediately after the tackle and then fell on his back seconds later.

CPR was administered almost immediately after he collapsed, and medical personnel were able to revive his heartbeat while he was still at the field.

The Bills later said he suffered a cardiac arrest and was in critical condition as of early Tuesday morning at a Cincinnati hospital. Cardiac arrest happens when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood to the body’s organs.

“If you get hit at a very exact moment, it’s within milliseconds … that’s when you’re in cardiac arrest.”

As Hamlin continued to receive treatment Tuesday, Cardillo explained that medical staff will likely slowly start weaning Hamlin off the ventilator over the next 12 to 24 hours to determine whether he can breathe on his own.

CNN's Christian Edwards contributed reporting.

Kelsey Conway, a reporter who covers the Bengals for the Cincinnati Enquirer, said the scene on the field was "horrifying" after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed Monday night.

“It seemed to be very bad when they weren't moving,” Conway told CNN’s John Berman early Tuesday, referring to medical personnel who were attending to Hamlin.

Conway said based on games she has covered, medical personnel try to move players off the field as quickly as possible. But that wasn’t the case with Hamlin as responders struggled to get him into the ambulance.

As she sat in the stadium's press box, she could not determine what was happening to Hamlin as medical staff rushed to provide aid.

Later, the Bills said Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and remained in critical condition early Tuesday. Hamlin fell on his back Monday night just moments after standing up from an open field tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Conway said the NFL’s Emergency Action Plan was activated in response to Hamlin’s collapse. The plan included an ambulance, a nearby highest Level 1 trauma center and airway traffic control, she said.

“They never want things like this to happen, but they are prepared for situations like this. And they were able to get him to better care as quickly as they could,” Conway said. “He had a police escort take him in the ambulance. So, he got there pretty quickly.”

An online toy drive fundraiser started by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin topped $3 million in donations in the hours after the NFL star collapsed on the field during a game Monday night.

The 24-year-old is in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest following a tackle during the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. CPR was administered on the field before he was driven out of the stadium in an ambulance to a Cincinnati hospital.

As fans awaited news on Hamlin’s condition, donations poured in to a GoFundMe fundraiser he started in 2020 to raise money to purchase toys for children, writing at the time, “As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will never forget where I come from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me. I created The Chasing M’s Foundation as a vehicle that will allow me to deliver that impact.”

The fundraiser topped $74,000 just one hour after Hamlin’s collapse and quickly grew to $2,033,270 just before 1 a.m. ET Tuesday, then soared to more than $3 million just an hour and 20 minutes later with more than 119,000 donations.

Read more here.

Former NFL player Donté Stallworth told CNN the teams affected Monday have a tough week coming as they try to rally for their next games while reeling from the shock of witnessing Damar Hamlin's collapse.

Buffalo Bills safety Hamlin is in critical condition in hospital after suffering cardiac arrest when he collapsed mid-game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Although the game Monday was important for "playoff indications," the players are likely "more concerned about Damar than anything else," Stallworth added.

Contact sport: Stallworth said he hadn't been afraid of physical contact on the field as a player — but that changed once he retired.

"Now I watch the games and I just kind of shriek at every little hit I see," he said. "My mindset is completely different now that I've been removed from the game nine, 10 years. I'm looking at these guys and I'm looking at where they are going to be 10, 15, 30 years down the road as opposed to what's going to happen the next play."

Former NFL player Ephraim Salaam said he believes the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills was postponed Monday largely because players on both teams were emotionally distraught by Damar Hamlin's collapse.

Photos from the game show players on the field crying and taking a knee in prayer for Hamlin after his sudden collapse at the Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Salaam noted the game’s postponement speaks to the importance of players’ physical and mental health.

“It is not just about the physical injuries we witness. It is about the mental health. Dealing with the trauma after witnessing something like the Hamlin injury,” Salaam said.

Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Bills, suffered a cardiac arrest moments after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. He remains in critical condition as of early Tuesday morning at a Cincinnati hospital.

Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, and remains in critical condition, the Buffalo Bills said in a statement on Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday.