On the Field and At the Hospital, Damar Hamlin's Heart Stopped Beating, Twice, Casting Doubt On the Widely-Accepted Commotio Cordis Theory
As featured by The BEC, Dr Reid Sheftall questioned the assumption of Commotio Cordis on the night of the event and he may be demonstrated as correct
We at The BEC reflect deeply on the chance of drifting into any territory that could be labeled “conspiracy theory.” We have written about this previously, and we take it as a point of pride that we do not jump at any scrumptious morsel of irrational-but-satisfying conspiratorial tidbit. We come to our conclusions cautiously and carefully; we would never knowingly publish anything that is untrue.
So it is with profound seriousness that we return to the death (and resuscitation) of Damar Hamlin, while also reminding community members of the heart attack death of Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive lineman Uche Nwaneri, 38, who was found dead on Friday, 30 December, only days before Hamlin’s crisis, on 2 January.
Nearly everyone has readily accepted the cause of Hamlin’s heart attack as the tackle impact to his chest. And certainly the tackle had a role. But could Hamlin’s heart have been damaged by the vaccines, which he’s known to have taken and which are known to cause myocarditis for one 16 to 24 year old man per 5,500 who receive two doses of the Moderna vaccine?
To ask this in another way… which is a less frequent event: commotio cordis afflicting a football player? or myocarditis in a vaccinated healthy 24 year old man?
Dr Reid Sheftall addresses the likelihood of commotio cordis in his post from only hours after Hamlin fell to the ground:
Statistically, it [commotio cordis] might be a first after millions of NFL tackles. Tough odds…
Here’s my take:
Two points. 1: Commotio Cordis doesn't explain any of the soccer players who have collapsed on the pitch. 2. F = P x A . That means for a large area, the pressure is small for a given force. and it's the pressure that matters, not the force. (this is why getting hit in your deltoid with a knuckle hurts way more than a flat fist when the hitter's arm comes in at the same speed and "solidity". ) The impact must be over the left ventricle and, in this case, yes, the runner's shoulder pad contacted the tackler over the left ventricle.. Shoulder pads are big, flat things so the pressure was minimal even though the runner weighs 220 and was running 15 mph. The point of the helmet might have been a problem in an illegal spearing maneuver but the runner's helmet did not impact the tackler in the right place (over the left ventricle) and there was no spearing (a defensive players device, anyway). CC is almost never seen in football because one's shoulder pads usually cover the left ventricle and helmet impacts get their impact "spread out", thus lowering the pressure of that impact.
Usually CC is seen in baseball when a well-hit 100mph "one-hopper" bounces up and hits the fielder in just the right place (baseball fielders don’t wear pads on their chests- catchers do or they would get this every year). The ball is small so the pressure is high. We also see it in lacrosse where underhanded shots easily exceed 100mph. A lacrosse ball is also small and very heavy and hard (worse than a baseball). Goalies should always wear a chest protector to "spread out the impact".
Dr. McCollough is most likely wrong in saying the cause was commotio cordis. He could be right, of course, and it remains to be seen, but it would be a once-in-NFL-history event for a very routine tackle. If people can die from routine tackles like that, we would have to ban football.
In other words, if a projectile - like a baseball, a lacrosse ball, or a hockey puck - were to strike a chest at exactly the right point, at the right moment in the heart’s beating rhythm, commotio cordis could cause a heart attack. But a generalized hit across a strong man’s chest would not.
Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest also at the hospital, making commotio cordis as the cause of his heart attack less likely.
We write with an urgency, pleading for authorities to end the covid vaccine programs. And we wonder out loud why Uche Nwaneri’s death is seemingly forgotten and is unmentioned as being in any relation to Damar Hamlin’s heart attack.
Have any two active NFL players died within 4 days of each other, separately, by any cause, in the full history of the league?
Or, if the Jacksonville Jaguars had played a Friday game, might Uche Nwaneri have collapsed and died on the field too?