CINCINNATI – Across the street, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was inside UC Medical Center, in critical condition after collapsing early in his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
And in a show of support for Hamlin, an estimated group of 30-40 fans – representing the Bills and Bengals – gathered at the intersection of Highland and Piedmont, hoping for positive news about Hamlin’s condition.
At 11:44 p.m., a Bengals fan asked the group to gather for a prayer, two hours before the Bills announced Hamlin was in critical condition and suffering a cardiac arrest.
Lifetime Bills fan Ryanne Clingersmith, who grew up in Grand Island, traveled to the game from Virginia Beach, where she serves in the military.
When Hamlin, 24, was injured after making a tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, Clingersmith said her initial emotion was “absolute despair."
"We didn’t know what was happening," she said. "I was confused. We were all confused.”
Clingersmith said the Bills fans in her section of the stadium became concerned when the Bills’ sideline gathered around Hamlin.
“We, as fans, didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “We were just literally sitting there, and your cell phones didn’t work and we were basically locked out from the outside world at a football game.
“You saw Josh (Allen), Stefon (Diggs), Tre (White), Tremaine (Edmunds) all take knees, and you could see their tears, and when coach (Sean McDermott) took a knee, I knew something was not right. And when the Bengals’ bench cleared, the place just went silent.”
The ambulance transporting Hamlin left the stadium at 9:25 p.m., less than 10 minutes after the teams were sent back to their locker rooms.
After the game was postponed, the scene outside Paycor Stadium wasn’t quiet, but it wasn’t normal, either. It was just weird.
Fans of both teams dodged between cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic to make their way on Elm and Vine Streets to their downtown hotels, an area of town that was hopping five hours before as streets were closed for tailgating and Bills fans descended into the city from Sunday morning to Monday afternoon.
UC Medical Center is located about four miles from the stadium. Upon arriving, spotted were fans wearing Edmunds’ No. 49 and Allen’s No. 17 jerseys. Bengals fans held lighted candles.
Clingersmith said it was an easy decision to make her way to the hospital and arrived around 11:30 p.m.
“We show up at airport (after road games), so we’re going to show up here and support Damar,” she said.
A steady rain began to fall and fans shook each other’s hands and started walking away from the hospital.
“I’ve been a Bills fan as long as I’ve been alive,” Clingersmith said. “This is one of those things that is going to stay with me the rest of my life, and it’s something I’m going to tell my son about, and he’s 7, and it’s something I’m going to tell my family in Buffalo about.”
