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Damar Hamlin was released from the hospital on Monday, a week after the Buffalo Bills’ heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated on the field during an NFL game, Dr. William A. Knight during a video press conference on Monday.
Knight said he drove with Hamlin to the airport where he flew to Buffalo. Hamlin is in a hospital there, the doctor at UC Medical Center in Cincinnati said.
“He is doing well and this is the beginning of the next phase of his recovery,” Knight said. “It’s totally too early to talk about it, not just his football; We’re really focused on his daily recovery.”
Knight said Hamlin had “achieved a number of important milestones” in his recovery, noting that the NFL player was on his feet and doing physical and occupational therapy.
“Grateful for the great care I received at UCMC. I’m glad to be back in Buffalo. Buffalo General doctors and nurses have already made me feel right at home!” Hamlin tweeted Monday afternoon.
In another tweet, he thanked the public for their support.
“Seeing the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling,” he wrote. “The same love you all showed me is the same love I want to bring back into the world. Bigger than football!”
Bill’s head coach Sean McDermott said on a Zoom call with reporters that he was “super excited” to have Hamlin back in town.
He said he and some members of the Bills organization visited Hamlin at the Buffalo hospital.
“He’s fine,” he said. “He’s just tired, but he seems happy and happy to be back in Buffalo.”
On Jan. 2, Hamlin, a 24-year-old defensive end in his second NFL season, suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
His UC doctors said Monday it was too early to know what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest and expected him to undergo further tests to determine what happened.
The Bills player posted a photo of himself on social media on Sunday, showing him sitting in his hospital bed and making a heart sign with his hands while wearing a number 3 hat and a “Love for Damar” – Wearing shirt.
Hamlin has tweeted more than a dozen times in response to the Bills’ 35-22 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, expressing his desire to be on the field with his teammates.
“It’s GameDay and I want nothing more than to run out of this tunnel with my brothers,” he wrote.
Hamlin also watched from his hospital bed on Sunday as teams across the NFL honored him in the final games of the regular season, with players, coaches and fans showing their support with T-shirts, signs and jersey patches featuring his name and number 3 expressed.
At Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, some of Hamlin’s teammates took the field and waved flags with his name and jersey number, while many in the audience put up heart-shaped signs to pay tribute to the football player.
The day before, the Bills tweeted that Hamlin continues to breathe on his own and his neurological function is excellent but he is still in critical condition, citing his doctors.
Hamlin collapsed after a tackle in the first quarter of the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals last Monday night. He was taken off the field in an ambulance, causing the players to cry and hug, and sparking a wave of support from fans and others across the country.
The game was initially postponed and later canceled by the NFL.
Before Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Bengals, the medical staff who rushed to Hamlin’s aid were honored at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium — the same field where Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest.
At New York’s Highmark Stadium, Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown gave a cue ball to assistant coach Denny Kellington, the man credited with saving Hamlin’s life by giving the football player who doctors say lost his pulse on the field , who saved lives had to be resuscitated immediately by resuscitation and defibrillation.
The immediate response from Kellington and other medical personnel was critical to “saving not only his life but his neurological function,” said Dr. Timothy Pritts, one of Hamlin’s physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Hamlin was sedated after being taken to hospital. Doctors announced on Thursday that he had begun awakening and appears to be neurologically intact, while remaining critically ill and on a ventilator.
“Did we win?” was Hamlin’s first question upon awakening, according to Pritts, who said he scrawled the question on a clipboard.
On Friday, the Bills said Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed overnight and he spoke to his teammates via video.
After Sunday’s win over the Patriots, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White said Hamlin texted members of the team ahead of Sunday’s game and said, “Thinking of you all, I’m sorry I did this to you guys have. Everyone.”
“That he’s checking in on us when he’s the person going through what he’s going through – that just shows what kind of person he is.”
White said Monday’s incident still haunts the six-year NFL veteran.
“Seeing everything happen, from impact, to getting up and falling, to everything — it’s just something I can’t…can’t see. Every time I close my eyes it repeats. I’ve tried watching TV, and every time there’s an ad on TV, that’s the only thing that comes to my mind,” White said.
During Sunday’s Bills game, the public address announcer read out a statement of support for Hamlin and received a roar from the crowd, which included fans in a sea of blue and red, who made signs of support for Hamlin with the words “BILLI3VE,” ” All the heart for #3″, “Love for Damar”, “Did we win” and “Thanks medical staff!”
Several of Hamlin’s teammates, including Josh Allen and Kaiir Elam, took to the field and waved flags with Hamlin’s name and No. 3 jersey.
Then the game started with a bang.
Bills returnee Nyhiem Hines took the opening kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown, sending the crowd into euphoria and causing Hamlin to tweet, “OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Hines said the team needed this win after last week’s events.
“As a community, I feel like we needed this win. I feel like my brothers in this dressing room, we needed great energy and great vibes. And we had to win that,” said Hines.
Other teams in the league also paid tribute to Hamlin Sunday.
In Cincinnati, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who was involved in the game in which Hamlin was injured, wore a T-shirt that read “Love for Damar” during the pregame warm-up.
Before the game began, the stadium’s announcer read a statement asking fans for a moment of support for Hamlin, his family and first responders.
Cincinnati fans, many with signs supporting Hamlin, cheered loudly. The TV show also featured Bengals coach Zac Taylor wearing a Love for Damar hoodie during the ceremony.
Before the game between the Chargers and the Broncos, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson and Chargers safetyman Derwin James, both wearing the number 3, met in midfield and initiated a moment of support for Hamlin.
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