Friends, family of Seneca Wilson relive tragedy watching Damar Hamlin's injury
The image of medical personnel frantically calling for assistance, paramedics rushing to resuscitate a fallen athlete, emotional teammates with frantic looks and tears streaming down their cheeks were all too hauntingly familiar.
That's what happened after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during an NFL game on Jan. 2 after making what appeared to be a routine tackle and going into cardiac arrest.
The images brought flashbacks to a similar tragedy in Palm Beach County 30 years ago.
Those who were in the gym at Palm Beach Lakes High School eight days before Christmas 1992 and witnessed 16-year-old Seneca Wilson's life taken moments after exiting a basketball game will never forget.
"I relive that situation every single time something happens."
Those are the words of then-Suncoast High coach Rob Long, flashing back to that tragic night. Wilson, a junior and one of Long's starting guards, collapsed while sitting on the bench moments after exiting the game with Suncoast holding a commanding lead.
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Wilson was taken to Humana Hospital in West Palm Beach. He was pronounced dead later that night.
"It was traumatic," said Long, 67, who coached 22 years in Palm Beach County before retiring as an administrator in 2020.
"We were all in shock. What the hell just happened?"
Gary McKinon turned off his television on Monday night. The memory too painful.
McKinon would walk to school with Wilson, his friend and teammate, after being dropped off close to Wilson's home in Riviera Beach. He was watching when Hamlin fell to the turf and knew from experience how serious the situation was.
"Instantaneously I went back to that moment," McKinon said of the night he watched Wilson fight for his life. "When (Hamlin) collapsed, I went immediately back to that moment.
"I turned it off."
EXPLAINER: What happened to Damar Hamlin?
Autopsy revealed Wilson had heart disease that may have been caused by a viral infection
Wilson had a promising future. A strong 6-foot-3 guard who was not done growing. He started attracting the attention of college coaches.
Wilson's parents, Bill and Faye Wilson, were mourning the loss of another son, Eric, when Seneca died. Eric, a star basketball player at Twin Lakes in the early 1980s, died 10 months earlier from an acute infection of the pancreas.
"As a family, there is not anything you can do when something like that happens," Bill Wilson, 80, said from his home in Riviera Beach. "It's out of their control. Those families have to be strong."
The autopsy revealed Wilson had heart disease that may have been caused by a viral infection.
Kisha Hymes was Suncoast's scorekeeper during the game, which was the opening round of the Derek Harper Holiday Classic. She was sitting at midcourt when she heard the commotion and looked down toward the team bench. She saw Seneca face down on the floor gasping for air.
Paramedics arrived, as did Seneca's parents, who were not at the game. Hymes, who now lives in Dallas, could not comprehend what was happening.
"I was 17," she said. "I remember thinking (maybe) he had an asthma attack or something like that. I didn't know how serious it was.
"We were young. Nothing like that ever happened before. He was young. He was healthy. We were devastated."
Long's focus eventually had to turn to his players and their well-being. One of his lasting memories is the trauma those players experienced the last time they saw Wilson before he died.
Wilson was on a gurney being rolled across the court with a paramedic straddling him frantically administering CPR.
"That's their last vision," Long said.
McKinon did not understand the seriousness until the "panic" in the gym. He remembers hugging Seneca's younger sister, Janelle.
The team played on, but the coach and players' hearts were not in it
Most of the next few days are a blur to Long. The team was gathered outside the hospital when they learned Wilson died. Counselors were called to the high school the next day.
The game between the Bills and Bengals in Cincinnati when Hamlin collapsed was suspended and will not be resumed. The NFL will play a full schedule this weekend — the Bills host New England on Sunday — its final week of the regular season.
In the case of Wilson, after he died, Suncoast had one day off before its second-round game in the tournament.
The game was played, but only after consulting with Bill and Faye Wilson, who said that is what their son would have wanted.
But, really, it's not what Long or his players truly wanted.
"I had no desire to play anymore," Long said. "I don't think the players did either. As much as they love playing, I felt they didn't have interest at all."
"I kind of shut down," said McKinon, who was being counseled by assistant coach Wes Holiday. "Basketball was the last thing I wanted to do at that point."
Long was struck by the silence over the next few days. He knew his players were devastated, knew they needed time to grieve. He just was not sure how long they could suppress their emotions.
He soon found out.
Suncoast defeated Palm Beach Gardens two days after Wilson's death. Two nights later, in the tournament semifinal, the Chargers lost 90-66 to Lake Worth. That game was played hours after a private viewing was held for the team in the school auditorium.
"That's when everybody let it go," Long said. "That's when all the kids who had been so quiet and kept to themselves … there were players we had to carry out of there. They just completely lost it."
'God is in control'
Seneca Wilson's memory lives on. Four years ago, at the 25th reunion of Suncoast's Class of 1994, the Seneca L. Wilson Memorial Scholarship was created.
“It is our mission to continue his legacy and the love he had to help others with an infectious smile,” Khalilah Chatman, chairwoman for the class of 1994 reunion, said at that time.
Now, it's been three decades since Seneca collapsed and Long still had difficulty holding back his emotions. So did McKinon, his voice cracking while talking about his friend.
Long, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, was speaking with Holiday, sharing their thoughts about what they witnessed Monday and how it brought back memories of that night 30 years ago.
Both men had a difficult time holding it together.
"I hung the phone up and my wife came in," Long said. "She said, 'you OK?' I said, 'I don't know.' "
'We really had to stick together for our other four children'
For those close to Hamlin, news has been encouraging.
The 24-year-old went into cardiac arrest, was given CPR and was revived on the field. By Friday, the breathing tube was removed and he was able to speak to his teammates. The news was inspiring and uplifting coming just four days after he nearly died.
Doctors credited with helping save Hamlin's life said they would not estimate his long-term outlook. They were concentrating on him getting healthier each day.
Speaking for the first time since seeing his teammate being resuscitated on the field, Bills quarterback Josh Allen said the scene plays "over and over" in his head.
"It's hard to describe how I felt and how my teammates felt in that moment," Allen said. "It's something we'll never forget."
For the Wilson family, they continue to deal with the memories of their tragedy.
"I wouldn't lose track of anything or lose your mind about anything," Bill Wilson said when asked how you cope. "We are a family that believes in God and God is in control of that.
"During that time, we really had to stick together for our other four children, for our family. That's important."
Deputy sports editor Eric J. Wallace contributed to this report.
Tom D'Angelo is sports columnist for The Palm Beach Post and can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomdangelo44.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Damar Hamlin's injury brings flashbacks of Seneca Wilson's death
