Bills’ Damar Hamlin Discusses Cardiac Arrest: “I Died On National TV”

The Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin has announced his return to the NFL after he “died on national TV,” according to the NFL pro.

ESPN reports that the professional athlete opened up about suffering from commotio cordis, a rare form of cardiac arrest, in January 2023.

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“Commotio cordis is an extremely rare consequence of blunt force trauma to the heart that happens at exactly the wrong time in the heart rhythm, causing the heart to stop beating effectively,” the American Heart Association describes.

“Not to sound cliché, man, but the ‘wow moment’ is every day just being able to wake up and just take deep breaths and live a peaceful life,” the Pennsylvania native said, according to Fox News.

“To have a family, to have people around me that love me, that care about me, and for those people to still have me in their lives. They almost lost me. I died on national TV in front of the whole world. That right there is just the biggest blessing of it all. For me to still have my people and for my people to still have me.”

Hamlin stated that he has recovered and was given the “ok” to resume football activities by various medical experts nationwide and looks forward to hitting the gridiron in September. The football player also disclosed he is now partaking in voluntary workouts with the Bills.

“This event was life-changing, but it’s not the end of my story,” Hamlin began. “My heart is still in the game. I love the game. It is something I want to prove to myself, not nobody else.

“I just wanna show people that that fear is a choice that you can keep going in something without having the answers and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel. Or you might feel anxious, you might feel any type of way, but you just keep putting that right foot in front of the left one, and you keep going. I want to stand for that.”

As the press conference continued, Hamlin, 25, began to show love to his teammates and the “camaraderie” that the WNY team has. He then talked about the beauty in that traumatic moment, calling attention to the togetherness that it brought to the world.

“I feel like that’s a direct correlation of what happened to me that night, you know, just bringing people together in prayer, love,” Hamlin said. “But that’s what this sport does as well, so my heart is in it completely and it takes a lot to be great in this game, and I got a long way to go. I got a long journey to go, but I’m committed to it each day, day in, day out.”

Brandon Beane, the Bills’ general manager, also expressed his gratitude for the Buffalo’s safety and his chance to make a comeback.

“It’s exciting to go from a guy who was fighting for his life to who is now, his story hasn’t been written,” Beane said. “Now it’s about the comeback, and so, to see that he, it was all about his health and it’s still, it’s always going to be about his health, but to truly, however many months later, be talking about he’s been fully cleared is pretty remarkable. And I’m excited for him and his family at where they are in this journey.”

Damar Hamlin suffered a shocking injury during the Monday Night Football game against the Bengals on Jan. 2, 2023. The NFL star made a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was sedated and listed in critical condition.

On Monday (Jan. 9), he was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and was briefly monitored at his Buffalo, NY, home.

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