Football parents talk concerns after Damar Hamlin collapse

Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed on field Monday night from cardiac arrest

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Football fans across the country waited with bated breath Monday night after Damar Hamlin with the Buffalo Bills collapsed on the field while playing the Cincinnati Bengals.

“In that moment, I just wanted to embrace all my players like every kid that I’ve coached because you realize at that moment it’s more than a game,” says Michael Horn, football dad and head football coach for McNabb Middle School in Mount Sterling.

Horn says he couldn’t sleep Monday night after seeing Hamlin collapse. The Bills say Hamlin had a cardiac arrest after a hit in the game against the Bengals and was given CPR on the field before being taken to a Cincinnati hospital, where he is still in critical condition.

“Unfortunately, that happened on a football field [Monday] night but that can happen on a basketball court, a soccer field,” says Horn. “I hate it for the game and people that may be reluctant to stop their kids from playing football because of something like that because it can happen anywhere.”

Some football parents across central Kentucky say the worry of a significant injury is always on their minds when watching their kids play, but some say this specific incident hasn’t given them extra cause for concern.

“In this case, there was nothing from a football play that dictated an injury of this magnitude. So now you look at it from a medical standpoint and you look at it from an evaluation standpoint, how do they change the game moving forward?” says Dennis Smith, football dad and former football coach.

“For something like a cardiac arrest, I immediately think about when he’s playing baseball. This isn’t something I would have considered for football,” says football mom Kathy Edwards. “So, does it make me more scared? Probably not more scared but just constantly aware.”

Horn says one of his big takeaways from what happened is that every coach and trainer should be trained in how to handle cardiac events should the unthinkable happen on the field.

“As a coach, I’m never going to overlook or underestimate an injury ever, ever again, no matter what it is,” says Horn. “I’m going to make sure I do my due diligence to make sure that player is getting home and to their family safely, as much as I can.”