[Solved] Why does this if statement still happen when it should not?

I created a spell that explodes and deals damage based on who was in the explosion using the hit event. I want the players inside the explosion to take 15 damage but instead, they take infinite damage because the if statement on line 35 always goes through even when it should not.

local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local testSpell = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("TestSpell")
local demon_circle = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("Assets").demon_circle

testSpell.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, hit)
    local p = demon_circle:Clone()

    p.Parent = workspace
    p:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(hit)
    p.PrimaryPart.Anchored = true
    p.PrimaryPart.Orientation = Vector3.new(0, 0, 0)

    -- Rotate
    for i = 1, 90, 1 do
        p.PrimaryPart.Orientation = Vector3.new(0, i, 0)
        wait(.000001)
    end

    -- Explosion (Visual only)
    local e = Instance.new("Explosion")
    e.Parent = workspace
    e.Position = p.PrimaryPart.Position
    e.DestroyJointRadiusPercent = 0
    e.BlastPressure = 0
    e.BlastRadius = 7.5

    hitList = {"Undefined"}

    local function damage_handler(character)
        local canDamage = false

        for i = 1, #hitList do
            wait(.0000001)
            --print(hitList[i])
            if hitList[i] ~= character.Name then
                print("Has not been hit yet")
                table.insert(hitList, #hitList+1, character.Name)
                canDamage = true
            end
        end

        if canDamage then
            character.Humanoid:TakeDamage(15)
        end
    end

    e.Hit:Connect(function(hit)
        local hum = hit.Parent:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
        if hum then
            --[[for _, name in pairs(hitList) do
                wait(.0000001)
                print(name)
                if name ~= hit.Parent.Name then
                    table.insert(hitList, #hitList+1, hit.Parent.Name)
                    hum:TakeDamage(15)
                end
            end--]]
            damage_handler(hit.Parent)
        end
    end)

    p:Destroy()
end)