What Is the Diagnosis ?

As of today, 1/16/23, it has been two full weeks since Damar Hamlin of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills collapsed during a MNF game on national television before over 20 million viewers. As we are all now aware Damar Hamlin had a cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the field, and taken immediately to a hospital in Cincinnati where he spent time intubated in ICU. Subsequently, after some days he was transferred to a hospital in Buffalo, and has since been discharged home.  

The Damar Hamlin story was of national interest for a week or so, and has since fallen completely off the radar. The sudden disappearance of anything related to Damar Hamlin, etc. seems a bit unusual to me. What was the final diagnosis? Why is this not public knowledge?

To my way of thinking, other than the NFL possibly putting the kibosh on the story because the playoffs are starting, there are only two possibilities. First, either no definitive diagnosis has been made, or, second, for whatever reason, it has been decided that Hamlin’s diagnosis should remain a secret.

First: Is it possible that all of the involved cardiologists at two different hospitals have not been able to arrive at a definitive diagnosis? Certainly, this could be, but at least, there should be some sort of a tentative diagnosis. For example … “based on the numerous negative tests that have been performed on Mr. Hamlin, we think that the most likely diagnosis is Commotio Cordis.” (FYI, Commotio Cordis refers  to the sudden arrhythmic death caused by a low/mild chest wall impact. It is seen mostly in athletes between the ages of 8 and 18 who are partaking in sports with projectiles such as baseballs, hockey pucks, or lacrosse balls.) Now granted Damar Hamlin is older than 18 and was not hit by any  projectile, but rather was involved in a relatively low impact collision while making a routine tackle. Those who are at all familiar with Commotio Cordis know that the likelihood of this happening to anyone is very rare, because of the precise time on an EKG that the impact has to occur. Could this be what happened? Although rare, yes this is possibly what happened. But why is this not coming out in the Main Stream Media?

That leads me to the second possibility … could it be that a susceptibility to Commotio Cordis could be related to something else? Interestingly, I just happened upon an article in European Heart Journal from March, 2021, entitled “Sudden cardiac death risk in contact sports increased by myocarditis: a case series” 

Granted this was a very limited case study of two rugby players with myocarditis diagnosed by both MRI and by autopsy. This study concluded that myocarditis may increase the risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias caused by blunt impact to the chest, particularly in contact sports.

However, this study does raise an interesting possibility in that the Covid vaccines are known to be associated with a risk of myocarditis, especially in young males, and nearly 95% of players in the NFL have been Covid vaccinated.

Again I am still waiting on the results of all the cardiac tests done on Damar Hamlin. … What is the diagnosis ?

1/16/23


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