Damar Hamlin Released From Cincinnati Hospital And Has Returned To Buffalo A Week After Collapse

Topline

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been released from a Cincinnati hospital and has returned to Buffalo nearly a week after he suffered cardiac arrest during a Monday night football game, with one of his doctors saying he has been “walking and tolerating a regular diet.”

Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills gestures toward the crowd during the third quarter against the … [+] Minnesota Vikings at Highmark Stadium on November 13, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Hamlin tweeted shortly after the announcement: “Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love on my heart.”

University of Cincinnati Medical Center Dr. William Knight said at a news conference Monday that “I can confirm he is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery.”

Hamlin is “neurologically intact,” according to UC Medical Center Dr. Timothy Pritts, and has been recovering faster than expected.

Hamlin remains in a hospital in the Buffalo area but Pritts said he could soon “make a transition back to home.”

It is “entirely too premature” to determine whether Hamlin might be able to play football again, according to his doctors.

Crucial Quote

“Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling,” Hamlin tweeted. “The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more.”

Key Background

Hamlin spent days unconscious in the intensive care unit after his stunning collapse late in the first quarter of last Monday night’s game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. For reasons still unclear, Hamlin’s heart stopped beating after he tackled a Bengals wide receiver, and it required several minutes of CPR and an electric shock from a defibrillator on the field to revive him. Hamlin was taken away from the stadium in an ambulance, quickly being intubated and listed in critical condition. Encouraging updates have come since—doctors on Thursday said Hamlin awoke and asked who won the game, while the Bills said he was able to address the team via FaceTime on Friday, telling them, “Love you boys.” Pritts said Hamlin watched the Bills’ win against the New England Patriots on Sunday and “set off every alarm in the ICU” when he celebrated the Bills returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Players and coaches around the NFL wore warm-up gear saying “Love for Damar 3” ahead of Sunday’s slate of games.

Big Number

More than $8.6 million. That’s how much in donations have poured into a GoFundMe toy drive Hamlin sponsored, which had a goal of raising $2,500.

Tangent

The NFL canceled the remainder of the Bills-Bengals game, meaning the two teams played one game fewer than the rest of the league. The NFL has decided a potential AFC Championship Game between the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs will be played at a neutral site since the cancelation ended the Bills’ chances of overtaking the Chiefs for the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC and clinching home-field advantage.