Jan. 5, 2023 -- Pro football player Damar Hamlin was “awake and breathing,” his doctors said Thursday, but they still do not know if he will fully recover from his on-field cardiac arrest or return to the National Football League.
“Tests will continue to be ongoing as he continues to progress,” William Knight, MD, of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center told reporters.
Hamlin, 24, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night. Medical staff tried to restart his heart. He remained on the field for 10 minutes and was taken to a hospital.
On Wednesday night, he was able to write with a pen and paper, The New York Times reported. He asked who won the game.
“When he asked did we win, the answer is, yes, you know, Damar, you won, you’ve won the game of life,” said Timothy A. Pritts, MD.
The doctors said they haven’t determined the cause of the cardiac arrest. They thanked the teams’ medical staff for the quick aid they gave Hamlin, which saved brain function.
“And Dr. Knight said it was too early to tell whether Hamlin would regain finer motor function and that processes like cognition, motion, speech and language would need to be assessed in the future,” The Times reported.