As the sports world shared their concerns for injured Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, former NHLer Chris Pronger offered his support while reflecting on a similar experience from his playing days.
During the Monday Night Football game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin collapsed on the field during the first quarter. He was given medical treatment for nearly 20 minutes before being taken to a hospital. The Bills announced early Tuesday morning that he suffered cardiac arrest after he was hit in the chest by the shoulder of Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin remains in critical condition at UC Medical Center after his heartbeat was restored on the field.
It is a familiar situation for Pronger, and he hopes will Hamlin will have a similar outcome to him.
During the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1998 while playing for the St. Louis Blues, Pronger took a shot off his chest which led to him collapsing on the ice and losing consciousness. Pronger suffered commotio cordis due to the blunt impact of the puck hitting him at a high speed and causing his heart to skip a beat.
"Prayers that Damar Hamlin can have the same outcome that I was fortunate to have with my incident," Pronger wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Damar, his family, teammates and the greater NFL community during this incredibly scary time."
Cardiac specialists say it's too soon to know what caused Hamlin's heart to stop, but commotio cordis is among the possible culprits. Commotio cordis occurs when a severe blow to the chest causes the heartbeat to quiver, leading to sudden cardiac arrest.
The condition only happens during a rare set of circumstances: when a sharp hit lands directly over the heart "at the exact wrong location at the exact wrong timing'' during the heart's rhythm cycle, said Dr. Rod Passman, director of the center for arrythmia research at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Commotio cordis occurs "probably 20 times a year,'' and about 60 per cent of those affected survive, said heart rhythm specialist Dr. Mark Link of UT Southwestern Medical Center. The main worry for survivors is brain damage from lack of oxygen when the heart stops pumping blood, Link said. Doctors can help reduce that risk with deep sedation to give the brain a rest, he said.
Pronger was back playing again four days after his incident.
"My eyes roll back in my head and then I went down. At the time, you're young and you don't take it seriously," he said in an interview with NHL.com back in 2015. "But as time goes on, you read about these types of incidents and that kids die from it. I was lucky."
With files from The Associated Press
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