Today (Jan. 9), the University of Cincinnati Medical Center discharged Damar Hamlin and transferred him back to Buffalo. Dr. Knight and Dr. Pritts, the doctors who provided 24-hour care for the Bills safety, shared the news in a video reported by TMZ. In the video, Dr. Knight said that they were “thrilled and proud on behalf of US to announce that Damar Hamlin has been released and returned to Buffalo.”
The doctor added that he and a few of Hamlin’s teammates traveled to the airport with him and confirmed that he has landed safely, but will be observed and monitored to ensure that there is no impact on his condition or his lungs.
The second-year pro took it to Twitter to share the good news as well. “Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love on my heart,” he tweeted. “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 and more. Bigger than football!”
Although Hamlin has made significant progress, it’s unclear when the defensive back will return to football activities. It’s reported that he’s being cared for at the Buffalo General hospital, according to Cincinnati’s WLWT channel 5 news.
“He still has a little bit of a ways to go in terms of his ongoing recovery,” Dr. Knight said. “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 and it’s gonna be up to Damar and a great team of physicians to help him.”
Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday (Jan. 2) after making a tackle on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during the first quarter of a live ESPN televised game. Hamlin stood up after making the hit, but immediately fell to the turf. Subsequently, the paramedics rushed to the field and administered CPR multiple times. They, then, carried him off the field in an ambulance, and rushed him to an Ohio hospital. The NFL suspended the game and they will not make it up.