"Damar Hamlin's heart stopped twice," said the NFL player's uncle

• Sports

Damar Hamlin, who collapsed on the field during the NFL game with the Cincinnati Bengals, would have suffered two cardiac arrests. The uncle of the player who plays for the Buffalo Bills, Dorrian Glenn, said it, also saying that Hamlin would not have been brought back to life only on the field, but also upon arrival at the hospital.

He told: "His heart stopped twice. But luckily the medical staff managed to get him started again. He's still sedated at the moment. They just want him to have a better chance of recovering well. So they figured if it was sedated, his body could have recovered much faster.

His lungs were damaged. But I'm optimistic. He will be able to breathe on his own shortly. We were all in tears. I'm not one to cry. But I have never cried so much in my life. Knowing that my nephew practically died in the field and they brought him back to life broke my heart.

Seeing all those grown men crying and all the emotion was really gut punching."

What happened

The clash between Hamlin and Higgins came with six minutes left in the first of four halves of the game. The athlete under the Cincinnati Bengals, in a rough tackle, hit the Buffalo Bills player in the head and chest.

Hamlin got up promptly, but, after taking two steps, collapsed on his back. A team of doctors and paramedics immediately entered the field, who gave the 24-year-old cardiac massage. After that Hamlin was hospitalized where his conditions are defined as serious.

As medical personnel worked to revive Hamlin, the stadium fell silent as did the athletes on the field, all in tears and distraught. Hamlin was then loaded onto a stretcher and rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

The exit of the ambulance was accompanied by applause from the entire crowd. The 24-year-old's mother was watching the match from the stands and immediately took to the field after the injury. So she got into the ambulance to be next to her son.

The match has been postponed. The NFL issued a statement to reaffirm the closeness of all the teams: "The only thing that matters right now is Damar's health and that he can recover."