Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after his heart apparently stopped following a tackle during a Monday night football game against the Bengals in Cincinnati. A statement from the Bills says Hamlin, age 24, suffered cardiac arrest following a hit.
Hamlin's heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC medical center for testing and treatment. Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues hall-of-famer, talked with KMOX about the situation. Pronger suffered an injury during a game himself when he took a shot to the chest while defending a power play in 1998.
"The parallel that I see between the two situations is how quickly the medical staff was involved, how quickly they got started into their protocols," Pronger said. "And, you know, you hope that that's a big reason why he's in critical condition and not in a worse place. You know, you're you, you hope that he can continue to fight and get better with each each day."
Hall-of-famer Dan Dierdorf shared his perspective with KMOX, too. A member of the Monday Night Football crew for years, he said watching the moment live on Monday night was jarring.
"We were all stunned and because injuries are part of the game — we've all either suffered them ourselves or certainly watched someone else suffer an injury and we're used to that," Dierdorf said. "But incidentally, this became something that we had not experienced before. And when I saw what happened last night, and I saw the look on those players' faces, I turned to my wife and I said, 'Debbie, they think he's dead.'"
Hear more from Pronger and Dierdorf on Damar Hamlin's injury on Monday:
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