First responders who helped save Damar Hamlin’s life share their story for first time

By Charlie Clifford

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — Thursday night marks exactly 10 months since Damar Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on this field.

The team of medical miracle workers led by the Buffalo Bills team doctors and University of Cincinnati’s Medical Center staffers working here that night are still trying to find words for how this event changed their lives.

“For that to happen and for the results to come out the way they did. It is mind-blowing,” UC Health Respiratory Therapist John Bush said.

Bush remembers Jan. 2, second by second.

After being resuscitated on the field, Hamlin’s breathing for 10 full minutes in the ambulance bound for UC Medical Center’s Level 1 trauma center was handled by Bush.

Driving the ambulance was longtime Anderson Township firefighter and paramedic Brian Reid.

“We heard one of our guys over the radio go, ‘We need everybody out here.’ I turned to my partner and was like, ‘they don’t normally say that,'” Reid said.

The father of two, was behind the wheel of the ambulance, rushing Hamlin 3.5 miles to UC Medical Center.

“I didn’t realize 65,000 people can be that quiet. We went from a rocking Paycor Stadium to, silent very quickly,” Reid said.

The doctor by Hamlin’s side, from start to finish, during his week-long hospital stay in Cincinnati, was United States Air Force Lt. Col. Valerie Sams.

Sams’ decorated service record includes flying gravely ill soldiers home from war.

The strides Hamlin made while in her care were profound.

“Moment that sticks with me is when he was in the final hours of his recovery, and he was really starting to communicate. He really, really wanted to get better so he apologized a lot even though he didn’t need to because he was really anxious to get better and to get moving,” Sams said.

One of two nurses first assigned to Hamlin was Kylee Ham.

Looking back on that night, Ham said the texts flooding the emergency department before Hamlin arrived were unforgettable.

“Afterwards, hearing from people who were at the game and how profound it was. Everyone who was there said it was just silence. Everybody felt the seriousness of the situation, it is really neat to look back on that,” Ham said.

Since that Monday night, every thank you sent to this team holds meaning.

Ten months later, one in particular stands out.

“We were on the run and my phone rings and it says New York City on the caller ID, and I am like, ‘okay?’ somebody calling me about my car insurance or something like that. I sent it to voicemail and figure, ‘ah… Whatever?’ we get done with the incident, I look down and they left a voicemail. I listen, and the the first thing I hear is, ‘Hey this is Roger Goodell.’ and I am like, I just sent the commissioner of the NFL to voicemail. He actually called everybody that was on the field that night. All the medics, all the docs, he recognized it was a job well done, and he took the time to recognize that. I appreciate that,” Reid said.

When asked how she feels about how her saving Hamlin’s life he has used it to changed how America views cardiac health, Sams said it makes her proud.

“I am so happy for him and his family, and so proud of him for what he has taken from this experience. And we was already doing so many great things for his community and children across the country before this all happened. It’s just another level, and it makes me so proud,” Sams said.

Bush agreed.

“As time has gone on and this year has passed, I see how much of a big deal it is. It is something in me that I will never forget,” Bush said. “My goal was to get him back home to his mom. That is what happened, and I am just so grateful to be a part of that situation.”

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