As Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlinremains in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest, football fans are describing the terrifying scene after his collapse at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium.
Hamlin was injured early in the first quarterof the Bills' Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals after making a tackle. The safety quickly popped back up, before suddenly collapsing.
“Honestly, it didn’t even register that the play was any different from any other play,” Bengals fan Lawrence Holland, who had traveled from Indiana to see the game, tells PEOPLE. “Everyone was cheering. It just seemed like a normal thing. I had good seats and could see it clearly, and it didn’t really stand out at all.”
When Hamlin collapsed, Holland didn’t immediately comprehend what happened. “I thought maybe he had fallen, or maybe he had hurt his leg or something. I didn’t think it was anything serious.”
Damar Hamlin.Timothy T Ludwig/Getty
Medical personnel administered CPR to Hamlin and appeared to give him oxygen before the ambulance took him away. “They were treating him for such a long time, and a hush spread across the crowd,” Bengals fan RJ McNair, who was sitting in the lower bowl of the stadium, tells PEOPLE. “You could see the looks on everyone’s face on the field. That’s when I knew this was a very bad thing.”
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“The crowd went from being really loud to really quiet,” says McNair. “You could hear a pin drop. It was this collective realization that ‘oh s–t,’ he’s really hurt.” McNair and his wife, Debbie, began to say a prayer.
Dylan Buell/Getty
“We were praying quietly,” McNair says. “We’re not Bills fans, but everyone was being very respectful. People were either hugging or praying or just watching silently. We may have wanted to win the game, but not like that. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”
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ESPN reports that Hamlin’s parents werebrought down from the standsto leave with him in the ambulance to go to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Early Tuesday morning, the Bills organization announced that Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest and was still in critical condition. The news came as no surprise to the people who were in the stadium.
“I’ve been to a lot of games,” says Debbie McNair. “Injuries happen. And usually that just seems like the risk they take. Someone might hurt their knee or whatever. But this was someone who was unconscious and not waking up. And watching the rescue workers running around, it was clear to every single person in that stadium that he was really injured.”
Eventually, the game was postponed, and fans took the long walk back to their cars.
“It was really quiet. Everyone was in their own thoughts,” RJ says. “People were murmuring and talking about it, but it was very respectful. There were no teams in that moment. Everyone was just hoping for the best for Damar.”
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In a statementshared Tuesday morning, Hamlin’s family said they will share updates on the 24-year-old “as soon as we have them,” and thanked fans and medical personnel for their support.
“His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment,” the team said. “He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”
For the football fans, it was a scary end to the game, and one they weren’t expecting.
“We’re just praying for him and hoping for the best,” says Holland. “We just want him to make a full recovery.”
source: people.com
