Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin has finally been given the OK from doctors to return to playing pro football, but until now, the main question of just what caused his cardiac arrest has still to be answered.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane announced on Tuesday that three specialists had cleared Hamlin and that he is physically fit and ready to return to playing.
Hamlin also told the media that he is ready to get his career back on track after collapsing on the field on Jan. 2, saying, “I don’t want to be done yet.”
“They’re all in agreement,” the coach said of the three specialists who evaluated Hamlin. “It’s not two to one or three to one or anything like that — they’re all in lockstep of what this was and that he is cleared to resume full activities just like anyone else that was coming back from an injury,” the coach said.
“He’s fully cleared. He’s here. And he is of the mindset — he’s in a great headspace — to come back and make his return,” Beane insisted.
Buffalo Bills players react after teammate Damar Hamlin #3 was injured against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at Paycor Stadium on January 02, 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
But, the question about just why this happened in the first place, why Hamlin’s heart stopped and almost killed him, has still been hanging out there in the air. And Hamlin has now revealed what happened.
Hamlin told the media that doctors told him he suffered “commotio cordis,” according to E News.
“It’s a direct blow at a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest, and five-to-seven seconds later, you fall out,” Hamlin said. “That’s pretty much what everyone’s seen Jan. 2 of this year. Commotio cordis is the leading cause of death in youth athletes across all sports. So that’s something that I personally will be taking a step in to make a change.”
He went on to say that he has simply pushed through the issues he faced. “I just want to show people that fear is a choice,” he said.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) warms up prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. (Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“You can keep going in something without having the answers and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel,” Hamllin added. “Or you might feel anxious, you might feel any type of way, but you keep putting that right foot in front of the left one and you keep going. I want to stand for that.”
The 25-year-old player also noted that the whole thing made him realize how precious time with loved ones can be.
“I died on national TV in front of the whole world,” Hamlin explained. “So, I see it from all perspectives. For them to still have me around, and for me to still have them, it goes both ways. And I lost a bunch of people in my life, and I know a bunch of people who have lost people in their lives, and I know that feeling. So 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.”
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