When Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest while on the field Monday night, South Florida teen Tomas Galbis was watching in real time.
The 15-year-old went through a similar incident — in August of 2021, he suddenly stopped breathing and collapsed inside his home.
“When everything first happened ... I was thinking like, this guy's really lucky to have a CPR-certified person on standby because if they're waiting for the ambulance to show up, it might have been too late,” Tomas said.
When Tomas collapsed in 2021, his father Jorge performed CPR while his mother Daniela called 911.
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“When he first collapsed, I thought he was having a seizure, so he was breathing,” Jorge Galbis said. “And so I didn't think it was a heart attack. But once he stopped breathing, then we started CPR immediately.”
Damar Hamlin
Jorge said he remembered CPR from his high school health class, and it made all the difference.
“What we did learn in this process is anything can change in a turn of a dime,” he said. “Things are fragile and you need to be prepared because you never know."
Tomas was first treated at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for a few weeks before being transferred to Jacksonville for additional care.
The family said doctors never gave a conclusive answer as to what had happened to Tomas, but they implanted a pacemaker and defibrillator as a precaution.
“Through faith, and then through the support of your friends and family, almost anything can be done,” Tomas said. “I had a lot of people behind me rooting for me.”
After seeing Hamlin’s collapse and his team’s quick response, the family wants to spread a life-saving message.
“Not just one member, but every member, and anybody's family should be trained and should know how to apply CPR and frankly, AED training as well,” Jorge said.
