Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs has spoken about the immediate aftermath of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, revealing that he saw his teammate’s heart monitor stop not once, but twice.
Speaking about the season six premiere of Uninterrupted’s ‘The Shop’ on Thursday, the 29-year-old likened Hamlin’s medical emergency to a ‘movie’ and wondered if he was ‘in bad shape’ for wanting to continue playing the matchup. for Buffalo against the Bengals. which was briefly put on hold before finally being cancelled.
‘It was so inconsistent. Like, he came to. He’s gone, you know what I’m saying? You saw… no one else saw it. But we saw the… what’s this called? Diggs initially said.
“The heart monitor,” Maverick Carter, a close friend and business associate of LeBron James, chimed in. “Yeah, flatline,” Diggs said.
‘Did you see it flat?’ a stunned Carter asked from the edge of his seat.
‘Swear by God. I saw it flat twice,’ Diggs confirmed, before adding: ‘They surprised him. He came back, and everyone was like… it’s like a movie. It was a moment of, like, I don’t know. Like, it’s kind of hard to describe because he’s inconsistent about how he feels.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs mentioned Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on LeBron James’ ‘The Shop’
Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on January 2 during a Bills-Bengals game.
The former Viking touched briefly on his father’s death before opening up about Hamlin’s breakdown and recounted the wide range of emotions he saw when the medical emergency occurred on the second day of the new year, comparing it to how he felt.
Diggs’ father died when the three-time Pro Bowler was just 14 years old.
“Guys crying and at that point, I couldn’t do anything other than, if I know Damar Hamlin personally, which I like, little brother, get your guys ready to go,” said an emotional Diggs.
‘Gather your guys behind him because if he didn’t have something to play for, he has something to play for now.
‘Of course, they eventually finished the game… which was probably in the best interest. But at that point, if we were to go out again, I know Damar would have wanted us to play… because when he finally came to his senses, his first words were, “Did we win?”
Diggs added that he felt “dubious” upon learning his teammate’s first words revived from his hospital bed at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center the next day.
“I was a little doubtful. I thought, “Damn, am I wrong for wanting guys to play?” Obviously some guys couldn’t,” the 2020 First-Team All-Pro said. ‘But then when he woke up and said, ‘Did we win?’ I ran into them, not that I left and left.
Diggs added, “That’s my thing,” when Carter said he seems to be the guy to rally his teammates, noting the fifth-round pick’s leadership skills.
Diggs, 29, said he wanted the Bills-Bengals game to go on so he could play for Hamlin.
Hamlin, 24, has enjoyed what doctors call a remarkable recovery since collapsing.
Earlier in the episode, Diggs provided a reality check to those who question how seriously gamers take their profession, leading him to bring up Hamlin’s cardiac arrest.
“For people who have feelings for (football), I have to put it in perspective for you,” Diggs said. ‘Our Damar Hamlin situation, when we almost lost someone on the field. That’s how physical he is. That’s how serious it is, so when people refer to it as a game, I like to say, “I’m not playing.”
The Virginia native opted to stay in Cincinnati, along with other Bills players, as the team returned to Buffalo after Monday Night Football was suspended.
Diggs was even seen arriving at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where security prevented him from visiting Hamlin, at first, while security was still dealing with emergency treatment.
Two months later, Hamlin has been consulting doctors before determining if he can achieve his goal of playing football again.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed what doctors are calling a remarkable recovery since collapsing on the field after making what appeared to be a routine tackle in the first quarter of the Bengals-Bills game.
The sophomore from the Pittsburgh suburb of McKee’s Rock spent nearly 10 days recovering in hospitals in both Cincinnati and Buffalo before being released. He eventually began visiting Bills facilities and attended the team’s 27-10 loss to Cincinnati late in the season in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Since then, Hamlin has made numerous appearances across the country, including during the Super Bowl festivities in Arizona, where he received the NFLPA’s Alan Page Community Award.
He also participated in a pregame ceremony where the NFL honored the Bills and Bengals coaching and medical staff and first responders who treated the 24-year-old.
