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As the rest of the world waited for updates on the condition of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, a group of staff members from the Avenue Church in Morristown were in the stands, watching as medical crews fought to save his life.

Hamlin was critically injured Monday night in the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin fell moments after being involved in the tackling of Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin got to his feet, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand, then fell backward, about two seconds later. His arms hit the ground at his sides.

“The first 8-10 seconds the initial reaction was ‘that guy got knocked out!’ Then I saw a medical staffer that’d gone out to check on him turn and sprint to the Bills sideline,” said Avenue Director of Marketing & Online Campus Dagan Smith. “She grabbed a bag and actually fell as she came back toward the field. The desperation was very apparent. If you’ve been around football much, it was clear pretty quickly that this was a serious situation.”

The group from the Avenue had planned the trip for several months as a bonding experience.

“Our worship Pastor, Brandon Ledford, is from Cincinnati and Pastor Justin (Graham) started out in ministry in the Cincinnati area,” Smith said. “We were all really excited to see the game because of the importance of the game.”

That all changed quickly. While the television cameras backed away and only showed wide angles of the field, the fans in the stands could see medical staff members fighting to save Hamlin’s life.

“We were about midfield and could see they were doing chest compressions. The ambulance was out quickly and it was eerily quiet but with a murmur going through the crowd,” he said. “It was oddly polarizing. You could quickly see the best and worst come out in people. There were people praying, I saw a few tears shed, but there were also several fights that broke out in different sections of the stadium as emotions ran high.”

After crews got Hamlin into the ambulance, Smith said it was clear the right thing to do was cancel the game.

“A couple of us were discussing right away that they shouldn’t try to continue the game and how hard it would be to re-focus mentally and keep playing,” he said. “After the first 15-20 minutes, I think everyone pretty much understood the game wouldn’t continue. After a while, there were staffers seen packing up equipment, so then it was obvious. The announcement was made in the stadium about 5-10 minutes after the picking up began.”

The Bills later released a statement updating Hamlin’s condition.

“Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”

Tuesday morning, speaking as the group was on its way back to Morristown from Cincinnati, Smith said he’s still processing the previous night’s events.

“It’s really so much to take in. This young man is right between my sons in age, so I naturally think about his parents and the rest of his family. I wonder about his relationship with Christ,” Smith said. “It’s such a powerful reminder of how none of us are promised another breath. Here’s this young man, this athlete, that is literally living out his dream, doing it at the highest level, on the biggest stage. Then, in a moment, everything changed. I pray his recovery is complete and whether he ever plays football again or not, Damar Hamlin becomes a name synonymous with miraculous recovery and success.

“For me personally, at this point, I’m not sure how much football I’ll watch for a while. For anyone that’s ever been involved in sports, you know there’s an inherent risk of injury, but this is different.”

For more AP coverage of Damar Hamlin, see today’s Sports pages or go online to www.citizentribune.com.