Family rep: Damar Hamlin's recovery moving in positive direction
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (CBS/AP) — Damar Hamlin's recovery is moving in "a positive direction" two days after the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati, the player's marketing representative said Wednesday.
"We all remain optimistic," Jordon Rooney told The Associated Press by phone. He said he was unable to go into further detail on Hamlin's status at the request of his family not to provide specifics.
On Tuesday, the Bills said Hamlin was under sedation and listed in critical condition.
Hamlin's uncle said his nephew's heart stopped twice, once on the field and once at the hospital, CBS Chicago's Charlie DeMar reported. He also said Hamlin has lung damage and can't breathe on his own. The player had been receiving 100% oxygen from a ventilator but that is down to only 50%, he said.
CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus told CBS Mornings Hamlin may have suffered "commotio cordis," where trauma can cause the heart to have an arrhythmia. Main Line Health Dr. William Gray also suspects that.
"A strike or a collision at just the right, timing at just the right spot on their chest, they can disrupt the electrical system of the heart in such a way the regular heart rhythm collapses," Gray told CBS Philadelphia's Stephanie Stahl.
Fans and loved ones donate, pray for Damar Hamlin
Fans rallied outside the hospital overnight and donated millions of dollars to Hamlin's effort to buy Christmas toys for children from his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh.
Rooney said Hamlin's family was staying positive and buoyed by the outpouring of worldwide support the Bills player has received since his heart stopped and he was resuscitated on the field before being loaded into an ambulance and transported the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
"They are elated right now," Rooney said. "Damar is still their first concern. But for them, they always look at how they can turn a somewhat troubling situation into a good one. The bounce back from this, for him and his family is going to be incredible."
