TOWSON, Md. — The word from Damar Hamlin himself: he will suit up to play in the NFL next season.
It was just a few months ago that he collapsed with an on-field cardiac arrest.
One Loyola Blakefield lacrosse player, Peter Laake, collapsed on the field in 2021 with the same condition as Hamlin.
Laake tells WMAR he’s happy for Hamlin, and they’re both lucky to keep doing what they love.
"I’m pretty lucky to be even playing [lacrosse], so definitely when I’m out there I cherish it," said Laake.
During a game in 2021, Laake suffered a cardiac arrest, later identified as Commotio Cordis.
"It was first quarter, three minutes left and there was a fast break, I had rotated up to the ball, and I got hit right in the chest," Laake recalled.
The American Heart Association calls it a 'rare consequence' of being hit in the chest, in exactly the wrong way, at exactly the wrong time in the heartbeat.
"Generally, it needs to be to the left side of the heart, toward the left side of the chest, and it has to be perfectly timed," said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, a cardiologist and former volunteer president of the American Heart Association.
"So if one is unfortunate enough to have all these come together, what can happen is the heart can be stimulated in such a way to induce a very fast and very irregular heart rhythm disturbance," Tomaselli added.
Only 1 in 10 people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survive, according to the AHA. The organization encourages Americans to learn CPR.
"Commotio Cordis, is the leading cause of death in youth athletes across all sports," said Hamlin. "So that’s something that I will personally be taking a step in to make a change."
"I’m just happy for [Hamlin]," said Laake, "for being as lucky as I was.”
Laake has committed to play at the University of Maryland.
"It feels good. I’m excited. It flies by," said Laake. "You’re a freshman 2 years ago, and that whole event happens and it doesn't seem that long, but now you're halfway through your junior year and you're 5-0."
