MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 25: Damar Hamlin #3 of the Buffalo Bills looks on prior to a game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Damar Hamlin was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just over a week after suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals last Monday night.
“Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, a Kaleida Health Facility in Buffalo, NY,” the Bills wrote on Twitter. “Hamlin was admitted on Monday and went through a comprehensive medical evaluation as well as a series of cardiac, neurological and vascular testing on Tuesday.”
The team went on to add a statement from Jamie Nadler, MD, a critical care physician and the chief quality officer at the hospital, who said “Damar can be safely discharged.”
“We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills,” Nadler said.
Hamlin collapsed on the field last week during the first quarter of a game after making a seemingly routine tackle on Bengals wideout Tee Higgins.
He was administered CPR and shocked and eventually rushed to nearby University of Cincinnati Medical Center by ambulance. That game was ultimately canceled and ruled a no contest.
Earlier this week, Hamlin was transferred from the hospital in Cincinnati to one in Buffalo.
Several days later, The Shade Room reported awake and has been holding hands with his family in the hospital. The Buffalo Bills player had been in a medically-induced coma at the hospital ever since the 24-year-old’s in-game cardiac arrest on Monday.
His agent Ron Butler broke the news last Thursday, with one of Hamlin’s teammates, Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam, adding he’s also “showing more signs of improvement.”
“Our boy is doing better, awake and showing more signs of improvement. Thank you God,” Elam tweeted Thursday morning.
Shortly thereafter, the Bills’ tweeted that Hamlin improved remarkably in the last day and appears to be “neurologically intact” prior to his release this week.
Hamlin’s first communication upon waking up last week was to ask whether the Bills had won the game, with doctors answering him that he had won the game of life.
It is still unclear what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, and the league will investigate what could have led to it, NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said Wednesday.
