According to several medical professionals, Damar Hamlin may have suffered from “commotio cordis,” a serious cardiac rhythm disturbance following a hit to the chest wall.

The Buffalo Bills revealed on social media that safety Damar Hamlin suffered a heart arrest during Monday Night Football versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

The 24-year-old Hamlin was hit in the chest by Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins early in the first quarter and had to quickly get back up before collapsing.

Before Hamlin was taken to the UC Medical Center by ambulance, the medical staff gave him oxygen and performed CPR on him for ten minutes. His situation is still critical.

Learn about cardiac arrest, which is sometimes confused with a heart attack.

According to the Mayo Clinic, cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of heart function brought on by an issue with the electrical system of the heart. As a result, the heart’s pumping function is interfered with, stopping the body’s blood flow.

If the right action isn’t done right away, it is frequently fatal. Up until emergency medical assistance arrives, CPR can increase a person’s chances of survival. The American Heart Association reports that every year in the United States, about 356,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of hospitals.

A person going into cardiac arrest may suddenly fall, stop breathing, have no pulse, or lose consciousness, among other severe and abrupt symptoms. Weakness, palpitations in the chest, weakness, and shortness of breath are examples of warning signals.

Although the terms are sometimes used improperly interchangeably, a heart attack and cardiac arrest are not the same thing.

According to the AHA, a blockage that halts blood flow to the heart is what causes a heart attack. It’s a “circulation” problem, meaning that the heart muscle tissue is dying since there is no blood flow. Heart attacks are dangerous and occasionally lethal. They may also make sudden cardiac arrest more likely.