An emotional scene unfolded with sights of crying players showing support to their injured teammate. Bills quarterback and teammate Josh Allen tweeted, “Please pray for our brother.”

The last time a player had a similar injury was in 1971 when the Detroit Lions faced the Chicago Bears. His name was Chuck Hughes. What happened to Hughes was comparable to Hamlin’s injury: he got hit, got up, walked then collapsed. Sadly, he died right there on the field.

An outpouring of support from others in the NFL community was almost immediate, with personalities such as JJ Watt tweeting “The game is not important. Damar Hamlin’s life is important. Please be ok. Please.”

The Bengals also offered their support to the worried Bills players.

Tee Higgins, the other player involved in the hit, tweeted, “My prayers and thoughts go out to @HamlinIsland the Hamlin Family. I’m praying that you pull through bro. Love.”

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs got cleaned up after the game and took an uber to the hospital where Damar Hamlin is being held to check on him. Upon arrival at the hospital, Diggs was stopped by a security guard.

He had informed the guard, “I need to be there for me teammate.” and with the help of a reporter to back him up, Diggs was allowed entry. The play seemed routine, with Higgins’s catching a pass and running into Hamlin. After the play, Hamlin was able to get up, but seconds later he collapsed. CPR was administered shortly after. 

Initially, after the ambulance had cleared the field, the referees gave the coaches and players 5 minutes to warm up and recover. Planning to continue playing the game despite the shocking event. However, players on both sides of the game were understandably too shaken to continue playing, so the game was suspended.

“The NFLPA and everyone in our community is praying for Damar Hamlin. We have been in touch with Bills and Bengals players, and with the NFL. The only thing that matters at this moment is Damar’s health and well-being.” tweeted the NFLPA (NFL Players Association)

Many sports medicine experts speculate based on all evidence that Hamlin may be suffering from commotio cordis, a condition commonly associated with undiagnosed structural and electrical issues in the patient’s cardiovascular system.

When an athlete with commotio cordis is hit with blunt trauma to the chest during an exact millisecond of the heartbeat, it throws off the rhythm of the heartbeat and causes cardiac arrest. 

Before this event, Hamlin’s charity (Chasin M’s Foundation) was to raise money to buy toys for children in need. The charity has been operating since 2020 and had a goal of $2,500, however with support from Cincinnati and Buffalo fans it has reached over 3 million dollars overnight.

The city of Cincinnati is showing so much support after what happened,  changing lights in downtown Cincinnati to blue for Hamlin. Some of the places are Paycor Stadium and Fifth Third bank headquarters.