The Pittsburgh Steelers have been slammed after appearing to perform a mock CPR celebration just days after Damar Hamlin was resuscitated on the field.
Hamlin collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest following a routine tackle during the NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. Doctors described the incident as a "one in 264 million injury."
While the 24-year-old was receiving life-saving CPR on the field, players and coaches from both sides knelt in a circle with some looking teary-eyed and distressed.
Hamlin's uncle Dorrian Glenn told CNN that his nephew had to be resuscitated again when he arrived at the hospital. "His heart had went out so they had to resuscitate him twice. They resuscitated him on the field before they brought him to the hospital and then they resuscitated him a second time when they got him to the hospital," he said.
Since collapsing on January 2, the Bills player has made remarkable steps in his recovery and has since sat up in bed and is talking to his family and friends.
While Hamlin continues his recovery journey, the NFL team the Steelers have come under scrutiny following an ill-timed celebration.
As per the New York Post, the Steelers beat the Browns 28-14 on Sunday and linebacker Alex Highsmith received pretend CPR in celebration after sacking Deshaun Watson.
Social media users were not happy with the ill-timed celebration, with some accusing the players of mocking the terrifying ordeal Hamlin went through last week.
Tagging the NFL and the Steelers in a tweet, one person wrote: "I sure hope you review this exact moment of the game. Can you talk bad taste? Pretending to give a player cpr on the field after what happened last week? You should be disgusted with your team."
A second person added: "Since the @steelers are eliminated they should make the whole team take cpr training next week. Total trash move!"
However - one account responded to the outrage with a possible explanation for the celebration: "Fans who haven’t watched much of the Steelers haven’t seen them do the CPR celebration before, but think it was bad timing. Steelers do it all the time prior to Hamlin’s situation. They weren’t intending to mock Damar Hamlin whatsoever."
While the celebration could be something that the Steelers often do - it certainly seems ill-timed given the recent circumstances.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
