By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) – Buffalo Bills players and coaches on Thursday praised assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington, whose “textbook” administration of CPR to Damar Hamlin on the field when he collapsed on Monday was crucial to saving his life.
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the contest in Cincinnati and Kellington was able to quickly restart his heart and restore blood flow to his brain as players from both teams and millions of television viewers looked on in shock.
“For an assistant to find himself in that position and needing to take the action that he did … is nothing short of amazing,” head coach Sean McDermott told reporters.
“You talk about a real leader, a real hero in saving Damar’s life. I admire his strength.”
Bills quarterback Josh Allen echoed McDermott’s sentiments about the training staff and Kellington, who has been with the Bills for nearly six years.
“I want to thank our training staff for going out there, not knowing what was going on but going through a checklist … and saving his life,” an emotional Allen said.
Allen added that news on Thursday that Hamlin was awake and communicating with medical staff led to “a lot of tears of joy” after tears of pain rolled down players’ faces on Monday.
Doctors treating Hamlin at University of Cincinnati Medical Center said the immediate recognition that there was something significantly wrong and the rapid response by Kellington and others was crucial to his survival.
“The Bills training staff who was with him immediately recognized that this was not a run of the mill injury and that they had a significant event on their hands and immediately responded,” Dr. Timothy Pritts told reporters earlier on Thursday.
“This went as well as something like this can go under very challenging circumstances. They did a fantastic job, which is why we are here today.”
Despite the positive news, doctors said Hamlin, 24, was still critically ill and remained in the intensive care unit, adding that the focus was on getting him off of a ventilator “and on the road to recovery.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen Coates)
