Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin said Tuesday his cardiac arrest on the field was due to commotio cordis, a rare heart rhythm disturbance caused by a blow to the chest ― but anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists weren’t buying it. (Watch the video below.)
Skeptics continued to infect social media with baseless claims that Hamlin was felled by the COVID-19 vaccine. Some responses to his diagnosis were absolutely bananas.
Hamlin made the revelation during his announcement that he would attempt a comeback to the NFL after he was cleared to play. At least one Twitter user suggested Hamlin was being paid off by “Big Pharma” to avoid telling the truth. Another asserted that the man at the news conference was not Hamlin. One doubter inquired about the player’s vaccine history. Another accused Hamlin of lying and uttering the “company line.”
“So the diagnosis of what pretty much happened to me was basically commotio cordis,” Hamlin explained. “It’s a direct blow at a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest and 5 to 7 seconds later you fall out.”
The American Heart Association called commotio cordis “a rare cause of cardiac arrest that starts with a blow to the chest in a precise spot at just the wrong time in the heartbeat. When it happens, CPR and an AED are the only ways to save someone’s life.”
Hamlin collapsed during a Jan. 2 “Monday Night Football” game after he tackled the Cincinnati Bengals’ Tee Higgins. His heartbeat was restored by personnel on the field before he was transported to the hospital.
Hamlin said Tuesday that commotio cortis was a leading cause of death among youth athletes and he was “personally taking a step in to make a change.”