Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the field during the team’s Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, The Associated Press (AP) reports.
The game was postponed indefinitely following the incident.
Hamlin collapsed during the first quarter of the game while tackling Bengals receiver Tee Higgins on a seemingly routine play that did not appear unusually violent.
The 24-year-old was administered CPR on the field, surrounded by teammates who shielded him from public view. Some of the players were in tears.
According to a statement from the Bills, “Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”
Jordon Rooney, a family representative who described himself as a good friend of the player, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, “All I can say is he’s fighting; he’s a fighter.”
Hamlin was treated on the field by team and independent medical personnel and local paramedics, and he was taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to AP.
VACCINE TO BLAME?:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that “Studies have found an increased risk for cardiac complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA COVID-19 vaccination,” leading some to speculate whether the COVID jab played a part in Hamlin’s collapse.
NFL vaccine policy requires unvaccinated players to follow more stringent protocols that don’t apply to vaccinated players.
Vaccinated players are allowed to return to “near normalcy,” while the unvaccinated are subject to “more frequent testing, masks and social distancing in the team facility and during team travel,” according to a July 28, 2021 ESPN report.
Unvaccinated players are also subject to fines.
While it is unclear whether Hamlin has received any COVID vaccinations, Bills general manager Brandon Beane in the same report from 17 months ago said the team’s vaccination rate was just over 80%.
Beane has said elsewhere that he believes his team would be at a “competitive disadvantage” if it faced “a team that has 100 percent vaccination.”
Philanthropist-entrepreneur and founder of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation Steve Kirsch posted to his Substack account on Monday night that he believes it’s “highly likely the vaccine played a role” in Hamlin’s collapse.
Kirsch indicated he had consulted cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, former vice chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and a professor at Texas A&M University, before making the claim.
“[Hamlin] collapsed just now. I talked to Dr. Peter McCullough to get his take. It’s highly likely the vaccine played a role,” Kirsch wrote.
The tech millionaire said he believes Hamlin had been vaccinated because the “Buffalo Bills is a 100% vaccinated team,” according to Kirsch. He said he received a message on Twitter “from someone who knows this for a fact” but who asked that the entrepreneur “not disclose” his identity.
Dr. McCullough sent Kirsch a message with his take on Hamlin’s medical emergency.
In the message, McCullough said Hamlin suffered “classic” cardiac arrest and that if the Bills player has been vaccinated, then “subclinical vaccine-induced myocarditis must be considered in the differential diagnosis.”
“I watched the play live both as a fan and a cardiologist and I saw blunt neck and chest trauma, a brief recovery after the tackle and then a classic cardiac arrest,” wrote McCullough.
He went on: “I have communicated to one of the most experienced trainers in the world and we agree that it was a cardiac arrest in the setting of a big surge of adrenalin. If Damar Hamlin indeed took one of the COVID-19 vaccines, then subclinical vaccine-induced myocarditis must be considered in the differential diagnosis. We have been told he was successfully defibrillated on the field and has been intubated and is not spontaneously breathing which is consistent with anoxic encephalopathy. The nation prays for his complete recovery.”
