Local doctor details cardiac arrest, predicts recovery process for Damar Hamlin
Dr. William Gray of Main Line Health is the System Chief for Cardiovascular Services and believes the 24-year-old suffered a rare cardiac event called commotio cordis.
PHILADELPHIA - The whole nation is praying for Damar Hamlin’s recovery following his collapse on Monday night.
"It’s incredibly rare, a freak accident, so to speak, in the sense that there are probably a few dozen that occur countrywide every year, which is pretty unusual," said Dr. Gray. "After every beat, the heart electrical system re-organizes itself and there is a vulnerable period of time, very small period of time, milliseconds, where if you deliver a blow just at that time, just at the right spot, you can have the heart electrical system become immediately disorganized, and no longer makes any heartbeats."
Dr. Gray said a person would lose circulation right away, which explains why Hamlin went down so suddenly and passed out.
"What Damar Hamlin has going for him is his youth, the fact that he was attended to incredibly quickly with resources by the NFL and the stadium were brought immediately to his aid and the expert care he’s receiving at University of Cincinnati," said Dr. Gray. "The recovery from an event like this really all centers around how well the brain recovers. If he had a short downtime, he should have a pretty solid recovery."
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Kevin Volpp is a cardiac arrest survivor and said the experience is frightening and happens suddenly.
Volpp said he went into a cardiac arrest in July 2021, coincidentally, at a restaurant in Cincinnati. He was in the company of his daughter and her two coaches who immediately went into action calling 911 and performing lifesaving CPR.
"It’s horrifying to go through something like this and witness somebody go down with a cardiac arrest in need of CPR and to have shocks from the defibrillator," said Volpp. "I think of the poor guy’s family, his teammates. They all have watched this, and it’s very traumatizing, and I’m sure they’ll never forget it."
Volpp, 55, is the Director of the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics and a professor at the Penn Medicine Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Volpp tells FOX 29 he was training for an upcoming Ironman event and doctors believe his physical health was a factor in his recovery, along with the immediate CPR and medical attention he received.
"I was able to bounce back. I was fully back to work in about six weeks, and since then I feel great and so very fortunate, and I hope Damar Hamlin is similarly fortunate," said Volpp.
The American Heart Association said 350-thousand people suffer a cardiac arrest every year and only 10 percent survive.
Health experts said survival depends on immediately receiving CPR and using a defibrillator right away.
A heart attack may cause a cardiac arrest, but the two are not the same. A heart attack happens when blood flow to the heart is blocked. A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart malfunctions and stops unexpectedly.