Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was in critical condition after falling following an on-field collision with an opponent during a nationally televised NFL game in Cincinnati on Monday night. The video of Damar Hamlin resembled commotio cordis – a phenomenon that occurs when a sudden blunt impact to the chest causes cardiac arrest.
Similarly, Ice-hockey player Chris Pronger suffered commotio cordis after taking a slap shot to the chest in 1998.
Who is Chris Pronger?
Chris Pronger was born on October 10, 1974, in Dryden, Ontario. He is a former professional ice hockey defenseman from Canada and a former advisor to the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers.
Pronger married his wife Lauren in 1999, and the two are parents to three kids. NHL 2000 and NHL Hitz 2003 both had Pronger on the cover. Sean Pronger, a former NHL player, is his older brother.
Prior to being moved to the Philadelphia Flyers before the 2009–10 season, Pronger played for Hartford, the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Anaheim Ducks after being picked second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He led the Blues, Ducks, and Flyers as their captain.
Having played for three separate teams (Edmonton, Anaheim, and Philadelphia) in the Stanley Cup finals, Pronger won the trophy in 2007 while playing for the Ducks. As the NHL’s most valuable player for the 1999–2000 campaign, Pronger received the Hart Memorial Trophy, making history as the first defenseman to do so since Bobby Orr in 1971–1972.
Pronger, a stalwart of Team Canada, is a member of the Triple Gold Club and an Olympic gold medalist from the 2002 and 2010 Winter Games. He was ranked among the “100 Greatest NHL Players” of all time in 2017.
Due to post-concussion syndrome brought on by three distinct hits he received over his playing career, Pronger’s career as a player came to an end in November 2011. He also has vision problems as a result of getting hit in the eyes with a stick blade from another player.
Pronger signed a contract with the NHL in October 2014 to help the league’s player safety division, and he does so in relation to the St. Louis Blues.
Pronger married his wife Lauren in 1999, and the two are parents to three kids. NHL 2000 and NHL Hitz 2003 both had Pronger on the cover. Sean Pronger, a former NHL player, is his older brother.
