After spending the past several months meeting US President Joe Biden, raising millions of dollars for his charitable foundation and promoting the benefits of CPR training, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin can focus on the next big objective in his life: returning to football.
Wearing a red woolen cap and a Bills blue pullover, Hamlin on Tuesday told a news conference that his heart — the one that stopped beating four months ago on the field in Cincinnati, Ohio — was “still in the game.”
“This was a life-changing event, but it’s not the end of my story,” Hamlin said. “I plan on making a comeback to the NFL.”
Photo: AP
Addressing reporters for the first time since going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field, Hamlin reflected on the anxious moments he has endured, his inner drive to not let fear stand in his way and how he no longer takes a minute of his life for granted.
“The ‘wow’ moment is every day just being able to wake up and just take deep breaths and live a peaceful life, to have a family and people that are around me that love me,” said Hamlin, who has been medically cleared to play and is participating in the start of the Bills’ voluntary workout program.
“They almost lost me. Like I died on national TV, you know what I mean?” he added. “So that right there is the biggest blessing of it all, for me to still have my people, and my people still have me.”
General manager Brandon Beane earlier in the day announced that Hamlin was medically cleared to return to football after the 25-year-old met with a third and final specialist on Friday.
All three agreed Hamlin could resume playing without any fear of setbacks or complications.
The specialists agreed his heart stopped as a result of commotio cordis, which is a direct blow at a specific point in a heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest, Hamlin said.
“He’s such a great kid and has such a great family, and it’s exciting to go from a guy who was fighting for his life to now,” Beane said. “His story hasn’t been written. Now it’s about his comeback.”
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