Marc Siegel: A Tale of Two Fights: Damar Hamlin Shows the Best of Us, Congress Not So Much

In the news business, reporters track stories independently and don’t generally see common ground, except in retrospect. Two major stories of the week were the US House speakership battle and sudden cardiac arrest in the Bills-Bengals NFL safety 24-year-old game of Buffalo. Damar Hamlin.

I covered the latter story during the week, and not the former. Rep. Kevin McCarthy Hamlin was fighting for his physical survival, while Hamlin fought for political survival.

In fact, it wasn’t until Hamlin In defiance of all expectations, she woke up on a ventilator in University of Cincinnati Medical Center ICU. She then wrote the famed words to the doctors. “Did we win?” This story was a feel-good story that I linked to the House’s ferocious battle. Also, for a win.

But while McCarthy was fighting for his political life, Hamlin was fighting for his actual life — and in fact his doctors responded to his question with “Yes, Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life.”

This was because no matter how rapid and expert the intervention on the football field with cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the automated external defibrillator to shock him back into a regular rhythm — the blow to his chest appeared to incite a potentially lethal arrhythmia, a rare happening known as commotio cordis — there was still a great deal of concern over whether the oxygen flow to Hamlin’s brain had been jeopardized enough to lead to any brain damage.

His doctors have not yet given a definitive answer, but they continue to state that he is neurologically sound and can breathe on his own.

McCarthy is also doing well after being elected speaker. However, this is not the end of the comparison. Whereas Hamlin brought the country together, as we all rooted for his recovery — Democrats and Republicans alike, football fans as well as those who loathe the sport — the McCarthy debacle was just the latest example of DC meanness and divisiveness.

Exhibit B: Just before the final votes, Rep. Mike Rogers (R.Ala.) almost came to blows. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R. Fla.) at the House Floor. All the dealing and confusion, the chaos and disruption, the nastiness, and pettiness showed once more why Congress is so unpopular. It didn’t matter whether you were for McCarthy or against him; what mattered was the unseemliness of the process.

Damar Hamlin, by contrast, is a much higher-class story, and he’s widely popular. This is not an accident. It is not an accident that he is obsessed with winning. He loves competition and overcomes obstacles but does so in a way which brings out the best of us. Many Americans can relate and admire the efforts of doctors at the University of Cincinnati and staff of the Buffalo Bills to overcome sudden illnesses.

We love to hear the story about Hamlin’s personal courage, about his being a role model for his younger brother as he rose from a blue-collar childhood in the town of McKees Rocks, Pa., where more than 30% live in poverty. It is no surprise that Damar’s Chasing M’s GoFundMe campaign has now raised more than $8.5 million for kids’ toys in his hometown, as Americans across the country contribute even as they root for Damar’s full recovery.

His story reminds us of the potential for improvement as a nation, and that we can all come together to overcome bitterness and bickering within our government. We can also relate to our strength, courage, and kindness once more.

This is what makes America great — not who represents us but the tenets we stand for. Hamlin tweeted it, “The love is felt, & extremely real. No matter race or religion everybody coming together in prayer!”

Marc Siegel MD is a medical doctor and medical director at NYU Langone Health. He also serves as a Fox News medical analyst.