Emotional- Damar introduces Bills training staff as Pat Tillman award winners

[Charles Romes]

7 hours ago, Jukester said:

Thanks for posting. Tough crowd around here with the eye roll.

 

Damar owes these guys his life and seeing them together is really heartwarming and emotional. 

really, the eye roll.  If this was any kind of pickup game without serious trained emergency professionals right there he is dead. 

[klos63]

10 hours ago, PrimeTime101 said:

This is why @Airseven should be banned from these forums. Of ALL POSTS... he eyerolls this? Why the hell is he here other then to troll? Maybe the mods can answer this one... 

no you gave the eyes to the person just because... that is trolling. 

you think he's bad, you should read the comments on twitter and facebook. 'it's not really Hamlin... it's because he was vaccinated..., he really died...' crazy people are all over.

[Solomon Grundy]

21 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

What an awesome moment in Bills lore.  I hope nothing like it ever happens again but that is not reality.  Kudos and Godspeed to Damar, the training staff and the team for handling all of this with class.

Let's not forget the Kevin Everett incident. The training staff, back then, was instrumental in him being able to walk again. It would've been AWESOME to have seen him on the stage with Damar. It's nice to know that your team's organization has such commitment to player's safety!! Go Bills 

15 hours ago, BUFFALOBART said:

-Hope that Damar, makes the team!

In any capacity!!

[Saxum]

2 hours ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Let's not forget the Kevin Everett incident. The training staff, back then, was instrumental in him being able to walk again. It would've been AWESOME to have seen him on the stage with Damar. It's nice to know that your team's organization has such commitment to player's safety!! Go Bills 

 

Yes.  There was a lot of talk how on this never happened before but what never happened before was a game which was cancelled due to an injury.

 

At the time the Kevin Everett injury was a big thing since they used a technique to help him which had not been used before and the research had been paid for by Bills owner Ralph Wilson.  After this many teams used it just as teams are adding preparation for the Damar type injury now.

 

Unfortunately many of the original articles are no longer available but the quote from Wikipedia matches the articles I have stored on my hard drive.

Quote

Dr. Barth Green, neurological surgery department chair at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said "based on our experience, the fact that he's moving so well, so early after such a catastrophic injury, means he will walk again." When asked about Everett's chances for full recovery, Green replied that, while "not 100 percent predictable", it was "feasible that he could lead a normal life", and credited the hypothermic treatment of intravenous ice-cold saline, administered within minutes of Everett's injury, as having been a significant factor in minimizing the damage. Green referred to this method as an "ice-pack for his spinal cord."

 

[Beck Water]

On 7/13/2023 at 6:48 AM, JerseyBills said:

Wow.. So proud of this staff and seeing Damar and the audience break down damn near had me in tears. Him and this training staff are nothing short of incredible!

Damar was our SB trophy this year, next year the Lombardis coming to WNY🫶🫶

 

 

 

I loved how when Damar was struggling with his emotions, the training staff there to get the award was all huddled around Damar and focused on him, "hey, Man are you OK?...."

[Beck Water]

14 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Yes.  There was a lot of talk how on this never happened before but what never happened before was a game which was cancelled due to an injury.

 

At the time the Kevin Everett injury was a big thing since they used a technique to help him which had not been used before and the research had been paid for by Bills owner Ralph Wilson.  After this many teams used it just as teams are adding preparation for the Damar type injury now.

 

Unfortunately many of the original articles are no longer available but the quote from Wikipedia matches the articles I have stored on my hard drive.

 

 

Of course you're right about the pioneering work that went into the treatment of Kevin Everett.  Interestingly, one motivation for Ralph Wilson paying for that research may have been the career-ending injury suffered by a Detroit Lions linebacker in 1997 (Reggie Brown).  When Damar went down, I initially thought it was a spinal injury causing paralysis and cessation of breathing.  But if you read about that, it's clear that the NFL emergency response was not quite the well-oiled machine it is now.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2017/12/22/breathing-reggie-brown-relives-injury/108850952/

It was players who ran to get the stretcher and inform the EMTs on that day.

 

Of course, all 32 teams have had regular preparations and drills for the "Damar type injury", cardiac arrest, for years now.  60-90 minutes before each game, the training staff and physicians have what they call the "60 minute medical meeting" (because it used to take place 60 minutes before the game, now they give it more leeway).   It's basically a command-and-control review identifying the people in each role on both teams, and walking through how different emergencies will be handled right down to who will take off the facemask, when do the pads come off and who takes them off, where does the ambulance come into the field etc.

 

The "never happened before" refers not to a serious injury like Kevin Everett's, but to a player literally dying on the field and needing to be rescuscitated.

And actually, that has happened before.  Chuck Hughes, 1971.  One minute left in the game.

 

And yeah, in both those cases (Hughes and Brown) they did finish the game.

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Beck Water