There's been a major development in the health of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who was hospitalized after his frightening collapse after suffering cardiac arrest last Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.
He's been released from the University of Cincinnati medical center and has returned home to Buffalo. According to Dr. William Knight, Hamlin is "doing well" and is in the "beginning of the next stage of his recovery" with the team at Buffalo General Medical Center.
"We shared last time that we were with you that our ultimate goal was to get Damar back home to his amazing family and broader Buffalo family. Well, Dr. [Timothy] Pritts and I are thrilled and proud on behalf of UC to report to you that Damar Hamlin has been released and returned back to Buffalo," Dr. Knight said.
"He landed safely and is as standard as anybody who has gone through what he’s gone through this last week and certainly after flying on a plane. He is going to be observed and monitored to ensure that there is no impact on the flight of his condition or on his lungs."
"He has been up with physical therapy and occupational therapy, walking the unit, tolerating a regular diet, meeting with his family and many members of the care team that wanted to see how he was doing — all to get him to this point where he could be safely returned to Buffalo.
Hamlin himself then released the following statement on social media:
"Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC," he said. "Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!"
Dr. Knight added:
"We’re thrilled to where he is today," he said. "He’s up. He’s walking around. He’s got an amazing, genuine sense of humor. And his family is amazing, and we’re happy he’s with them but in terms of any kind of conjecture to his future, that’s still significantly in the future, and it's going to be up to Damar and a great team of physicians to help him."
