The family of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin asked fans to keep the NFL players “in your prayers” ashe remains in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrestduring his game Monday night.
In a statementshared Tuesday morning, Hamlin’s family said they will share updates on the 24-year-old “as soon as we have them,” and thanked fans and medical personnel for their support.
Damar Hamlin.Timothy T Ludwig/Getty
Hamlin was injured early in the first quarterof the Bills' Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals after making a tackle. The safety quickly popped back up, before suddenly collapsing. Medical personnel administered CPR to Hamlin and appeared to give him oxygen before the ambulance took him away. ESPN reported that Hamlin’s parents werebrought down from the standsto leave with him to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
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Early Tuesday morning, the Bills organization announced that Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest and was still in critical condition.
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“His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment,” the team said. “He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”
In another update Tuesday morning, RooneytoldGood Morning Americathat Hamlin is “a fighter.”
“So I can’t speak specifically on his medical condition. All I’ll say is, you know, he’s fighting — he’s a fighter,” Rooney told anchorRobin Roberts.
“Yeah, I mean his family’s remarkable,” he expanded on Hamlin’s support system. “They are a tremendous group of people. They’re strong, you know, they’re supportive — they’re obviously worried.”
“Damar is very close with his family,” Rooney added.
In the wake of the NFL player’s shocking injury,a GoFundMebenefitting Hamlin’s charity has receivedmore than $3.5 million in donations.
Sharing further details on their personal and professional relationship, Rooney went on to tell Roberts that Hamlin actually reached out to his marketing agency seeking an internship, which is “pretty unique” for a division one football player to do, which speaks for Hamlin’s entrepreneurial side, who wanted to “build his own brand.”
Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
“He interned for me and now we’re super super close,” Rooney said of his intern-turned business partner.
“I think what’s most important is to give the family their privacy,” Rooney noted of all the traction happening around Cincinnati hospital, wanting to remind fans that he’s a human being first and a sports star second.
“The family is going through a lot right now, so I think it’s important for everyone to just kind of remember that this is a person and his family is just trying to work through everything.”
source: people.com
