Medically, if someone has a pulse, ie their heart is beating, but can't breathe on their own, what mechanically in the body is preventing the person from being able to breathe on their own? Does that mean there was some type of brain damage? Does that mean the heart isn't circulating oxygen through the body?

Not sure if anyone knows enough to explain how it all works.

This is just me but I don't have a good feeling about this.  The fact that there hasn't been an update and they are preparing to have on in a few minutes from the hospital makes my heart sink.  I hope my gut is wrong.

7 minutes ago, The Holy Vagabond said:

Well the thing is, with Commotio Cordis it’s 1) pretty rare

2) the trauma is normally more significant. Like a significant mva without an air bag and seat belt but you bend the steering wheel significantly with your chest. Although many hits in the nfl can be compared to an mva. 
 

actually now that I think about it, there are cases of it happening in baseball because of a ball hitting someone in the chest. 
 

hmmm….. 

I believe it is the 2nd leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest, and the leading cause of SCA in youth sports.  There is some equipment/padding that is named specifically for the condition. 

1 minute ago, Sack that QB said:

Medically, if someone has a pulse, ie their heart is beating, but can't breathe on their own, what mechanically in the body is preventing the person from being able to breathe on their own? Does that mean there was some type of brain damage? Does that mean the heart isn't circulating oxygen through the body?

Not sure if anyone knows enough to explain how it all works.

Think of breathing as something *slightly* simpler.  Like doing a biceps curl.

Multiple relay centers in the brain, down through the spinal cord, down to the nerves, into the muscle, then muscle action into the biceps curl.  You can have a breakdown anywhere in that arc that prevents it from happening.

Breathing is no different.  Brain to spinal cord to nerves to diaphragm.  Just add in the airway itself, which can become obstructed.  Anything in that pathway can lead to "not breathing on their own.”

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

This is just me but I don't have a good feeling about this.  The fact that there hasn't been an update and they are preparing to have on in a few minutes from the hospital makes my heart sink.  I hope my gut is wrong.

 

I don't think ESPN with their camera crew tastelessly parked out front of the hospital would be breaking that news.  It will come in a statement from the family. No doubt ESPN is trying to press people who work in the hospital for info though 

Could it just be myocarditis? 

Just now, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I think the Chiefs would care, as would a lot of fans of the Bills and Chiefs. It wouldn’t seem fair to award the first seed to Kansas City based on percentage.

What's 'fair' right now?  Is it 'fair' to ask these players (specifically the Bills players, but also the Bengals players that just witnessed this) to go back and play again in 24 hours?   To go back out on the very same field that they witnessed this happening on so quickly?    Is that 'fair'?   And frankly, the fans don't matter right now.  The players matter.  The Bills players can't be asked to go out and play until they are capable of doing so with their full state of mind.  

 

Sure.  There will be a ripple effect because of this that will reverberate through the NFL.  Nothing can change that.  The answer to that ripple for me is to minimize the impact on the players most closely affected.   Some things are bigger than the standings, even in a multi-billion dollar business.  I don't envy the NFL trying to untie this knot.  No solution they offer will satisfy everyone.  No matter what... something will be deemed unfair in the outcome.  Nothing can be considered more unfair than the events that we watched unfold tonight.  The NFL was just handed a tragedy and they are going to have to navigate very challenging waters.  I pray they find a solution that honors Hamlin... and the rest of the players involved in tonight's game.  I just don't see rushing to complete this game as a viable solution.  

1 minute ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

I don't think ESPN with their camera crew tastelessly parked out front of the hospital would be breaking that news.  It will come in a statement from the family. No doubt ESPN is trying to press people who work in the hospital for info though 

Unfortunately we don’t live in a media culture that abides by that code. 

7 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

If you are Goodell, the solution in these situations really isn’t that complicated.  Just listen.  

Get the HC and player’s union rep from the Chiefs, Bills, and Bengals on a zoom call.  Ask them…what do you guys want?  They’ll arrive at one answer.  Then you do that.

That's a wise piece of advice.  

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

This is just me but I don't have a good feeling about this.  The fact that there hasn't been an update and they are preparing to have on in a few minutes from the hospital makes my heart sink.  I hope my gut is wrong.

If it’s any consolation, bad news would come quickly.  Good news will take time.  No updates is a good thing.

He’s the guy Hamlin was tackling. 

 

It didn't seem like that nasty or rough of a hit. I wonder if he had something that was triggered

37 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Seems almost impossible for an aortic rupture from a hit like that.  That usually comes from massive trauma.

Maybe almost. But not impossible. It happened to DJ Hayden at the University of Houston. 

35 minutes ago, Uscg-green said:

I feel like if that was the case they never would have gotten a Rhythm back. You don't come back from that. 

They can. It happened to DJ Hayden. He lived, and got drafted by the Raiders.

Of course, he was incredibly lucky, but its not impossible.

Either way what happened tonight was another rare event in sports. So to rule anything out due to being rare is kind of counter-intuitive at this point.

Commotio Cordis, ruptured aorta- both are possibilities at this moment.

12 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I think the Chiefs would care, as would a lot of fans of the Bills and Chiefs. It wouldn’t seem fair to award the first seed to Kansas City based on percentage.

 

Doesn't KC get it anyway if they win Saturday?  If they lose then it would go to I think the Bengals if this game is ruled a tie. 

2 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

He’s the guy Hamlin was tackling. 

Prayers for Higgins too. I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind and how he’s dealing with this right now. 

Account seems credible

3 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Doesn't KC get it anyway if they win Saturday?  If they lose then it would go to I think the Bengals if this game is ruled a tie. 

If the bills won tonight and then won next week got the 1 seed. It’s why i don’t think they’d rule it as a tie.

3 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

It didn't seem like that nasty or rough of a hit. I wonder if he had something that was triggered

Way more questions than answers right now.

 

3 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

They can. It happened to DJ Hayden. He lived, and got drafted by the Raiders.

I'm guessing it was just a partial? I've only seen them responding to care accidents and they were already gone. 

Don't assume anything that is going to make you stress this more or feel awful. Hamlin got the best care from go and he's in an excellent facility. Sometimes when a patient is stabilized they still want to monitor them for a while before feeling confident that they are OK to be (downgraded/moved/don't know the right term here) to something less serious.

Doctors are not allowed to give public updates unless the patient or legal guardian signs off. I don't think his mother's top priority right now is Twitter.

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

No the bills if they won tonight and then won next week got the 1 seed. 

 

But in talking about the scenario where this game is ruled a tie. It's not like Chiefs would just be handed the #1 seed, they would still have to win to get it and lose it if they lose to the Raiders and Bills or Bengals win week.  At least I would think. 

Just now, BDawk_ASamuel said:

 

That is encouraging.

 

Is the breathing tube just a precautionary step to make sure he doesn't stop breathing?

6 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Could it just be myocarditis? 

Nah. You don't go from feeling well enough to play a football game, to out and pulseless that quickly from just myocarditis. Like others have speculated it's probably blunt trauma causing asystole or a significant arrhythmia, but we'll know eventually.