from All-Star veterans to promising up and comers to recreational marathoners these are the athletes who have experienced cardiac arrest in the middle of a competition it's no secret that professional football is a violent sport but the play that very nearly ended the life of Buffalo Bill's safety Demar Hamlin didn't exactly look like it would result in serious injury much less in medical emergency in the first quarter of a Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2nd 2023 Hamlin tackled receiver T Higgins absorbing a reasonably hard shot to the chest in the process Hamelin then stood up took a couple of steps and collapsed as Bill's medical staff worked on him it became clear that something was very wrong Hamlin was transported from the field in an ambulance and it was later reported that he likely been struck by a condition known as kimoshio Cordis this involves an impact to the chest being delivered in a very specific spot that a key moment in the cardiac cycle which can cause the heart to Simply stop after a week spent recovering at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Hamlin was discharged to another hospital in Buffalo for further monitoring his recovery appears to be coming along nicely nine days after the incident the bills announced on January 11th via Twitter that Hamlin had been released from Buffalo General Medical Center we're just trying to be there for him and walk at his pace so to speak it's been good having him around hockey has produced some of the most devastating injuries in sports history one of the most infamous happened to defenseman Chris Pronger who is playing for the St Louis Blues when he took a snapshot directly to his chest during a 1998 playoff game as it recalled to the Toronto Star in 2023 I went out to block a shot and I got a slap shot directly in the heart the next thing you know I woke up and was staring at the Banners at the Joe Lewis Arena turned to the side and saw players crying kind of what's going on you're kind of opening up your eyes are like looking around trying to take it all in and go okay where am I what's going on after being cartered off the ice on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital it was determined that progner had experienced an episode of commotional Cordis years later when he saw what happened to Demar Hamlin it brought back some unpleasant memories for Pronger he ultimately made a full recovery and continued his career even winning a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
A 2020 meeting between the St Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks was the setting for another scary though slightly less dramatic incident involving a cardiac episode as blues defenseman Jay beaumeester was sitting on the bench he suddenly began feeling a little off as he recalled during a press conference it all just came pretty suddenly everything up to that point was normal I hadn't been sick or had much going on it was completely out of the blue it turned out to be a slight case of cardiac arrest and beaumeester had nothing but gratitude for the blues medical staff he credited the team's doctors with saving his life thanks to their quick deployment of a defibrillator boomister was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season after which he then retired the proud owner of a new cardioverted defibrillator and planted in his chest while Meester is now living a relatively normal life as he admitted to the athletic in 2021 I knew I was done essentially when it happened to be quite honest he might not be able to play but he can still I think try to help him you know I have some good relationships with guys on the team in 2014 Dallas Stars hockey player Rich Beverly collapsed while sitting out prompting the team's medical staff to immediately begin chest compressions before applying a defibrillator their quick action almost certainly saved Everly's life but the incident also came with a bit of ominous foreshadowing about a week before the game Beverly experienced an episode of atrial fibrillation during which he was struck with a fluttering irregular heartbeat the condition was eventually resolved and team doctors and closely monitored Beverly he played in two games following the afib incident and was displaying no further symptoms that would have raised any red flags despite attempting to mount a comeback after his collapse Beverly was ultimately advised against it by his doctors he retired in 2015 and then joined the star's front office to help develop new players while all sports are physically demanding view athletes possess more robust endurance and distance Runners that's why it was particularly shocking when Megan Roth suddenly collapsed during the Eighth Mile of the 2021 Boston Marathon as she later recalled it happened in seconds like I passed out I don't remember hitting the ground fortunately fellow marathoner Nick Haney who had met Roth at past races and happened to be a firefighter immediately sprang into action as he revealed the fact that I knew who this person was it made it a lot more real at work when I'm not I'm not used to we're not used to going on people that we know or um you know that we care about Haney was joined by a group that included spectator and retired nurse Marie Rogers they all took turns administering CPR until an ambulance made its way to the scene Roth was rushed to the hospital where she was fitted with an implantable cardioverted defibrillator and discharged four days afterward in March 2018 Zeke up Shaw was a forward for the NBA g-league team the Grand Rapids drive when tragedy struck during a game against the Long Island Nets he suddenly stumbled and fell face down on the court the team's positions initially believed that he'd suffered a head injury and it took them a full seven minutes to even begin CPR Upshaw was then transported to the hospital where he passed away two days later upshaw's medical records would later reveal that he had a heart condition that hadn't been detected during preseason screenings his mother Jule filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NBA and the Detroit Pistons the team that was affiliated with the drive at the time she alleged that the team had been ill-equipped to recognize the seriousness of the situation and it failed to take appropriate action the lawsuit was settled out of court in 2019 after which Jewell expressed their intention to continue spreading the word about the need for proper training and awareness the depth of Loyola Marymount University forward Hank Gathers was shocking not only because he was only 23 but because he seemed destined for basketball stardom he led the nation in scoring as a junior and he entered his senior season prepare prepared to set the basketball world on fire early in the season he collapsed on the courts that we quickly recovered while it was unclear exactly what had happened he was prescribed heart medication and was cleared to continue playing during a game on March 4th 1990 right after delivering a dunk gathers once again collapsed while returning to mid-court this time he regained Consciousness only briefly and after being taken to the hospital he passed away an autopsy would later conclude that gatherers was living with an undiagnosed condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which results in a thickened heart muscle and decreased blood flow imagine LeBron's physique with Russell Westbrook's energy and Shaq's fun-loving personality that was Hank Gathers the Danish football Union was rocked in 2021 when Christian Eriksen went down on the pitch After experiencing Cardiac Arrest during a European championship match initial reports made it seem as though Erickson had bounced back pretty quickly from the event less than a week afterward he was offering statements on social media thanking fans for their support and wishing his teammates well in their upcoming match against Russia upon examine Nation it was determined that while there appeared to be no underlying condition Erickson was a strong candidate for her cardiovertor defibrillator so he was then implanted with the device and on the road to recovery in 2022 it was revealed that Ericsson's episode was a bit more severe than initially reported as his heart had stopped for about five minutes before medical staff were able to get it pumping again nevertheless he was able to make a triumphant return to the pitch just 18 months afterwards he was back in Action playing for his team in the world cup at the Monterey Bay half marathon in December 2022 potential disaster struck not once but twice about a quarter of the way into the race 67 year old Gregory Gonzalez went into cardiac arrest and hit his head as he fell to the pavement fortunately for him also running that day was Dr Stephen lome a cardiologist who immediately realized what was happening after performing six minutes of chest compressions lone gave Gonzalez over to emergency Personnel who defibrillated him incarted him off to the hospital loam then composed himself and finished the race at which point he saw another participant 56 year old Michael heileman go down in an extremely similar fashion so he went into CPR mode once again until medical staff could assist as improbable as it might seem that two separate race participants could have heart attacks in the immediate vicinity of the same cardiologist miles apart the outcome was perhaps even more unlikely both Gonzalez and hileman fully recovered and were even able to take part in an emotional reunion with Dr loam on The Today Show there's more all three of them are planning to run the half marathon again next year together English footballer David Longhurst was a popular character among fans of the sport in the late 80s a genial man with an infectious love of soccer Longhurst played Winger for Peterborough United before switching to Striker ahead of his signing by York City in early 1990 an injury that prevented him from seeing too much playing time that year did nothing to dampen his fan favorite status but that season would unfortunately be his last on September 8 1990 during home match versus Lincoln City Longhurst collapsed on the pitch and attempts to revive him were futile he was found to have an exceedingly rare heart condition that had gone undiagnosed York City fans and successfully lobbied for a memorial to be built and the David Longhurst stand was erected the following year then in 2022 Longhurst was one of several players to be honored by having a street named after him in New York more than five decades prior to Demar Hamlin's Cardiac Arrest an eerily similar situation played out during a game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears Detroit wide receiver Chuck cues had just been subbed in for an injured teammate when after being taken down following a reception with 62 seconds left in the game he collapsed face down to the turf Hughes was quickly whisked off the field but no medical intervention could have saved him he had suffered a massive fatal heart attack becoming the first and thus far only NFL player to die during a game use his widow Sharon was watching when Hamlin's injury occurred and she told NBC news that she spent that night lying awake thinking about the young man's family fortunately Hamlin's story had a much happier ending while it's easy to blame the violence of the sport when tragedy strikes Sharon Hughes urged fans Not to pointing out that her husband had loved football while it was live as she put it you can't blame football I never did turkish-born German boxer Musa yame could hardly have had a more promising start to his career he turned Pro in 2017 and his first eight bounce went pretty well he amassed a record of eight wins and zero losses with every win coming by knockout then in 2021 he won the World Boxing Federation light heavyweight international title in May 2022 he took to the ring to face Ugandan opponent Hamza wandera in a matchup that probably should have been a walk in the park instead it turned into a nightmare as reported by the German newspaper blid yarmac didn't appear to have taken any major hits in the first two rounds he exited his corner for the third but then he simply went down and didn't get back up as horrified fans looked on he was worked on by paramedics and then taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead as his heart had given out he was only 38 years old with his passing shocking the boxing world and robbing yarmik of what was shaping up to be a bright future [Music]
