Doctors on Monday announced that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center one week after he collapsed on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during the first quarter of the Bills-Bengals match at Paycor Stadium last Monday. He had to be resuscitated on the field before he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition.
“Our ultimate goal was to get Damar back home to his amazing family and the broader Buffalo family,” Dr. William Knight said Monday.
“Well, Dr. (Timothy) Pritts and I are thrilled and proud on behalf of UC to report to you that Damar Hamlin has been released and returned to Buffalo.”
Knight said Hamlin was in another hospital in Buffalo on Monday, where medical staff would monitor him to ensure that his flight had no impact on his condition or lung function.
Hamlin thanked the care team at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in a social media post. He added that “the docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!”
Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home! 🏩🫶🏾.
— 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧 (@HamlinIsland) January 9, 2023
Earlier, he said that he had “a lot of love on my heart” as he returned to New York.
“Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling. The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more,” he wrote. “Bigger than football!”
Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love on my heart. 🫶🏾
— 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧 (@HamlinIsland) January 9, 2023
Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling.
The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more.
Bigger than football! 🫶🏾
Knight said Monday that Hamlin “is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery.”
The 24-year-old has “met a number of key milestones on his journey to recovery,” including getting up and walking the intensive care unit, doing physical and occupational therapy and eating, Knight said.
The Bills shared news of Hamlin’s release on Monday, writing in a post on social media that it was “An amazing update.”
An amazing update. ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/Do1P1nKQWI
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 9, 2023
Pritts, a trauma surgeon at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said it remained too soon Monday to say what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. It also remained too soon to say whether he would be able to return to professional football.
“We’re really focused on his day-to-day recovery,” Knight said. “He still has a little bit of a ways to go in terms of his ongoing recovery. We’re thrilled to where he is today. He’s up, he’s walking around, he’s got an amazing, genuine sense of humor and his family is amazing and we’re happy he’s with them, but in terms of any kind of conjecture to his future ... that’s still significantly in the future.”
Pritts said Hamlin will likely need therapy and help from specialists as he continues his recovery. However, he added that “there’s no reason to believe that he won’t continue his path to recovery.”
©2022 Cox Media Group