The Bills issued an update on the health of safety Damar Hamlin early Tuesday morning, saying that the 24-year-old remains in critical condition after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the first quarter of Monday’s game against the Bengals.
The team said in a tweet at 1:48 a.m. ET that Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored by medical personnel on the field before he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He is currently sedated and undergoing further testing and treatment.
The game came to a stop when Hamlin collapsed after tackling Bengals wideout Tee Higgins. He initially got up off the ground and to his feet following the play, but then collapsed. In a harrowing scene, Hamlin was administered CPR on the field and was then taken away in an ambulance.
Hamlin was then transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He was accompanied in the ambulance by his mother, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck said during ESPN’s broadcast.
After Hamlin received medical attention on the field, officials initially talked to each head coach and allowed the teams a reportedly brief time period to warm up before resuming play. Shortly after that decision was announced, though, the Bills and Bengals left the field and returned to the locker room, as the game officially entered what was called a temporary suspension.
The NFL announced approximately an hour later that the game had been postponed, prompting both teams and fans to leave Paycor Stadium.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available,” the league said in a statement. “The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association which is in agreement with postponing the game.”
Hamlin was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round in 2021. He played five years at Pittsburgh, during which he recorded 185 tackles.
