London football community calls for focus on player safety after NFL player's cardiac arrest

Members of London's football community are hoping for answers and more focus on safety for players after Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed in the first quarter of a game in Cincinnati on Monday.

Thousands of people watched the moment live.

"The aftermath, him collapsing and everything, that was just hard to watch," said Lucas Reeves, the offensive line coach for the Forest City Thunderbirds, an amateur youth club in London, Ont.

Hamlin's heart stopped after making a tackle on a Cincinnati Bengals player before medical staff restored his heartbeat on the field, and he was loaded into an ambulance. The 24-year-old was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he remains in the ICU.

Reeves is one of many football players who can no longer play due to past injuries. He remembers his first concussion when he was in Grade 9, which was the first of many, he said.

He recalls how players were once taught to use their heads to counter opposing players' pushes against them. Part of Reeves' mission is making sure out-of-date practices like that are nipped in the bud, and players are taught how to make contact as safely as possible, he said.

Reeves' past experience with injury, and his drive to make sure the young men he coaches play as safely as possible, relates directly to Hamlin's injury, he added.

"Most safety concerns that we see at the younger ages, we can address them locally. When something happens at the top level of the sport, it tends to trickle down," he said.

"There's still some definite safety concerns with the sport."

Reeves wants to know if coaches at top levels of play are enforcing well-known methods for safe play.

"If this was an issue that happened due to the contact, what is that issue and what can we do better? I know that the NFL is going to be looking through at it," he added.

One cardiologist that CBC News spoke to said it's too soon to know what went wrong, but it may have been due to a rare type of trauma called commotio cordis — also known as cardiac concussion — a type of arrhythmia when the heart cannot work effectively and blood pressure can dramatically drop.

"This is certainly going to bring down a lot of pressure on the league," said Ryan Goodison, a sports editor and reporter at the Western Gazette

Goodison, who has an eye for sports, says he was disappointed to hear reports that the league may have wanted the game, which was stopped by both teams, to continue after Hamlin's injury. He believes the event will put pressure on the league to reevaluate how it protects its players.

Goodison also says events like these highlight how much players mean to their fans, and their communities.

"These are not just football players, these are people who are outstanding members in their community," he said. "These are, you know, brothers, sons."