Monday Night Football unfolded into a scary scene after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and had to be given CPR.
Hamlin is believed to have suffered cardiac arrest following a hit from a play that seemed pretty routine.
Dr. Jeff Cavendish, a cardiologist with Kaiser San Diego, explained what he thinks happened. "It's called commotio cordis. It's Latin for agitation of the heart," he said. "It's where we get hit in the chest with something ... and it hits the chest during the heart's beating cycle in such a fashion that it causes this electrical craziness in the heart, and the heart just goes into what we call ventricular fibrillation."
Cavendish says commotio cordis usually happens in baseball, lacrosse, or hockey.
The Buffalo Bills confirmed Hamlin’s heart stopped and was restarted on the field before he was transported to a hospital.
Dr. Cavendish says Hamlin’s recovery will depend on how quickly that resuscitation happened. "The better the CPR, the more likely the patient is going to survive. But the sooner we get the heart restored to beating on its own, and the blood circulating, and the brain getting blood flow, the better. The less likely there is going to be any permanent damage," he said.
Marlon Gardinera, the head football coach at Scripps Ranch High School says this incident is making many families nervous right now.
"As you try to encourage other people to play the same sport, you have to know, with confidence, that this appeared to be a freak accident. Something that could have happened in everyday life ... in a car. In any other way," he said
All sports come with a risk, Gardinera said, but also with many benefits that outweigh that danger.
"There are inherent risks, no matter what we do, and I'm willing to take that risk with my sons, because I know they're learning hard work, discipline, accountability, team, competition. They have brotherhood and friendships and relationships that are going to last them that lifetime," he said. "And I don't know that I would ever trade all of those things out of fear of the, 'What if,' or, 'What might happen?' I still think, even for my own family, the benefits outweigh the risk."
Despite major playoff implications, the NFL postponed the Bills vs Bengals game indefinitely.
In a Tweet, the Bills asked people to pray for Hamlin, and said: "It’s more than football."
