After suffering a cardiac arrest on the field Monday night, Bills player Damar Hamlin is awake and conscious, to the point where he asked his treating physicians in writing if he had won the game against the Bengals. “Yes Damar, you have won the game of life,” they replied.
This is the most concrete and encouraging news since the start of the disturbing event that occurred at the start of the duel in Cincinnati.
The 24-year-old still can’t speak as he remains intubated to receive oxygen, but the signs of progress are clear, two doctors from Cincinnati University Hospital revealed in a press briefing.
“There has been substantial improvement in the past 24 hours. He is awake and his neurological functions seem intact.”
“He remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit and still needs to make significant progress, but this milestone marks a turning point in his condition,” said physician Timothy Pritts.
awake and aware
The doctors have also confirmed that Hamlin can move his feet and hands, in addition to responding well to what is asked of him so far.
“He shook a lot of hands, including ours. It’s very interactive,” smiled Dr. Pritts.
“The first question he wrote when he woke up was: did we win? It shows us that not only are the lights on, but we know he’s home. We felt a very powerful wave of support for him and Damar realizes that today,” he added.
Next steps
Before declaring Hamlin stable, doctors want to gradually reduce the oxygen supply and see continued neurological improvement.
“When we remove the breathing tube, it will be a success,” said Dr. William Knight.
“There is still a lot of work to do. Breathing on its own is the next big step. This is what we must focus on for the moment, ”he insisted.
As for whether he could ever return to football, the two doctors mentioned that in the best possible scenario, Hamlin will return to “exactly the same state he was at 8 p.m. Monday, before all this happened”.
However, they were careful to add that it is still far too early to decide on the rest of the events and praised the work of the medical staff of the Bills and Bengals in the stadium.
Match cancelled?
As for the duel between the Bills and Bengals, according to several NFL insiders, it seems increasingly clear that the league will simply have to cancel it.
Different scenarios would be studied regarding the positioning of the teams for the playoffs. The winning percentage could be privileged, since the Bills and Bengals will have played one game less than the other teams.
It is also possible that the American conference final will be played on neutral ground if the Bills or Bengals are involved. None of this is confirmed yet.
