In martial arts, the blow to the left chest over the heart is called “the touch of death.” The defibrillator placed on Mr. Hamlin’s chest was the saving grace because it restored a heartbeat that pumped blood. He is now in an induced coma with the hope that it will protect not his heart but his brain.
John Dale Dunn, M.D. "The collapse of Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills Safety, after a tackle, has been described as a “heart attack,” but the reader should be warned that medical events are sometimes not described properly.
"What everybody who was watching the game witnessed on Monday was Mr. Hamlin taking what looked like an ordinary hit to the chest. He and the other player both hit the ground, they both stood up, and then Hamlin collapsed in an instant. He received at least nine minutes of CPR on the field before an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital, where he is still in critical condition. . . .
. . .It’s worth noting that Americans have found horrifying what happened to Mr. Hamlin and have reached out in typical American fashion: Mr. Hamlin’s charity project for kids is reported to have been bumped from a few thousand to more than a million.
John Dale Dunn MD JD is a retired emergency physician and inactive attorney in Brownwood, Texas.
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