Bills safety Damar Hamlin is in good spirits as he remains hospitalized in Buffalo, the team announced Tuesday.
“Not home quite just yet,” Hamlin tweeted. “Still doing & passing a bunch of test. Special thank-you to Buffalo General it’s been nothing but love since arrival! Keep me in y’all prayers please! #3strong.”
The 24-year-old Hamlin was released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Monday, and transferred to Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute one week after he suffered cardiac arrest on the field during a game against the Bengals on Jan. 2.
Hamlin — who was joined by his parents, Mario and Nina Hamlin, and younger brother Damir at the Buffalo area hospital — is going through a series of testing and evaluation on Tuesday, the Bills said.
“The team at Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute is now tasked with identifying any possible causes of the event, potentially treat any pathology that may be found, as well as plan for his recovery, discharge and rehabilitation,” the Bills said in a statement Tuesday.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin posts a photo from his hospital bed at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center before watching Buffalo play the Patriots on Jan. 8, 2023.Twitter/Damar Hamlin Bills head coach Sean McDermott briefly saw Hamlin when he touched down in Buffalo early Monday.
“He’s just very tired but he seems happy and happy to be back in Buffalo and around a familiar area to him,” McDermott said.
Hamlin has been communicating with the team via FaceTime, and was on the phone to break down the team huddle after Sunday’s 35-23 win over the Patriots.
Fans look on as the ambulance leaves carrying Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he suffered cardiac arrest against the Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Jan. 2, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Getty ImagesThe second-year safety was able to watch the game from his hospital room in Cincinnati, where his doctors said he was so excited that he set off every alarm in the ICU.
“When the opening kickoff was run back, he jumped up and down, got out of his chair, and set, I think, every alarm off in the ICU in the process,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, division chief of general surgery, said Monday.
Nyheim Hines of the Bills returned the opening kickoff against the Patriots 96 yards for a touchdown at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, where fans held signs in support of Hamlin. The Bills honored Hamlin prior to kickoff and dedicated the win to him.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin after a game against the Tennessee Titans at Highmark Stadium on Sept. 19, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York. Getty ImagesAll NFL teams in action throughout the weekend held moments of support for Hamlin and honored him with t-shirts that read: “Love for Damar.”
Hamlin was in critical condition and on a ventilator while hospitalized at UC Medical Center. He awakened from a medically induced sedation Wednesday night, and has continued to show improvement in his recovery, Pritts and the hospital’s director of emergency medicine Dr. William Knight said during a press conference on Thursday.
Pritts also said that it is too soon to determine whether Hamlin will play football again.
The Bills share a message of support for safety Damar Hamlin during a game against the Patriots at Highmark Stadium on Jan. 8, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. Getty ImagesHamlin continues to share updates about his recovery on Twitter.
“Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC,” Hamlin tweeted Monday afternoon. “Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!”
In a separate tweet, Hamlin thanked the public for their support.
“Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling,” he wrote. “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!”
