BILLS S DAMAR HAMLIN PLANS TO MAKE NFL COMEBACK, REVEALS HE SUFFERED COMMOTIO CORDIS
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been cleared to resume football activities and worked out with the team as they began their Offseason Workout Program this week, the team announced.
“Over these last few months, I’ve been on a journey and I’ve seen some of the top professionals across the country and their answers to me were pretty much all the same,” said Hamlin. “They were the same. This event was life changing but it’s not the end of my story. So I’m here to announce that I plan on making a comeback to the NFL.”
Hamlin spoke for the first time to the media since he suffered a cardiac arrest on January 2nd and thanked the Bills medical staff, coaches and his own teammates, saying he was “blessed to have them.” Hamlin said the diagnosis revealed he suffered commotio cordis which is a rare cause of cardiac arrest that starts with a blow to the chest in a precise spot at just the wrong time in the heartbeat.
The University of Connecticut defines commotio cordis as a sudden arrhythmic death caused by a low or mild chest wall impact. Athletes that suffer commotio cordis are usually struck in the middle of the chest with a low or mild impact, but enough to cause the heart to enter an arrhythmia. Patients tend to fall out of consciousness five to seven seconds after the impact, exactly how it happened to Hamlin on Jan 2nd.
Usually seen mostly in athletes between the ages of 8 and 18 partaking in sports with projectiles such as baseballs, hockey pucks, or lacrosse balls, commotio cordis is the leading cause of death in youth athletes across all sports. Hamlin said he will “personally take a step into it to make a change” regarding that statistic.
As to why he wants to continue playing, Hamlin said his heart is still in the game. “My heart is still in it,” said Hamlin. “My heart is still in the game. I love the game. It’s something I want to prove to myself, not nobody else. I just want to show people that fear is a choice. That you can keep going at something without having the answers, and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel.”
“You might feel anxious. You might feel any type of way but you just keep putting that right foot in front of the left one and you keep going. I want to stand for that.”
Per the American Heart Association, there are no risk factors for commotio cordis, something that’s a bonus for Hamlin, who has been making doctor appointments across the country over the last three-and-a-half months with Bills head athletic trainer Nate Breske.
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said that all of the specialists were in agreement on Hamlin’s case and on his being able to fully return to playing football. “When he left Cincinnati, he came here, it was Buffalo General [Medical Center],” said Beane. “He saw a couple of specialists here in Buffalo, and then, since then, he’s seen three additional specialists, most recently on Friday and they’re all in agreement.”
“It’s not 2-1 or 3-1 or anything like that. They’re all in lockstep of what this was and he’s cleared, resumed full activities just like anyone else who was coming back from an injury or whatever. He’s fully cleared. He’s here and he’s of the mindset, he’s in a great space to come back and make his return.”
Hamlin was appreciative of his family and the people around him, saying on Tuesday that the wow moment since the cardiac arrest is every day. “Not to sound cliché but the wow moment is every day,” he said. “Just being able to wake up and just take deep breaths and live a peaceful life.”
“To have a family, to have people around me that love me and that care about me, and for those people to still have me in their lives. They almost lost me. I died on national TV in front of the whole world, 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.”
“I lost a bunch of people in my life. I know a bunch of people who lost people in their lives and I know that feeling. That right there is just the biggest blessing of it all. For me to still have my people and my people to still have me.”
Hamlin was confident about his decision to come back and play, saying that he was trusting God, and walking in faith. While the 25-year-old is aware that some people might be hesitant on his decision to come back to play, saying it may not be the best option, Hamlin remains confident, saying that he has been beating statistics his whole life and likes his own chances at a comeback.
Bills GM Brandon Beane spent some time with Hamlin and his family in the hospital and said, “Such a great kid, such a great family. It’s exciting to go from a guy who was fighting for his life to… his story hasn’t been written. Now it’s about the comeback. To truly, however many months later be talking about, he’s been fully cleared is pretty remarkable. I’m excited for him and his family for where they are with this journey.”
The former Pitt Panther said he knew he didn’t want to be done with the game while watching other teams and other safeties play while he was still at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center that first week. Hamlin also revealed that his last checkup on Friday had the doctor “pretty much” recommending him to go back to playing, saying it would be good for the mental aspect of things, and Hamlin agreed.
Hamlin has in recent months spent time in Washington, DC, helping promote the bipartisan legislation Access to AEDs, which would increase the availability of automated external defibrillators on school campuses, and also met with President Joe Biden at The White House.
   The third-year defensive back also received the NFL Players Association’s highest honor, the Alan Page Community Award, in February for his work helping others and raised in excess of $9 million in the days after he went to hospital through GoFundMe for a kids’ community toy drive that he set up while at the University of Pittsburgh. Hamlin intends to carry on his philanthropy work via his foundation, The Chasing M’s Foundation.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Tom Williams. This work is from the Roll Call portion of CQ Roll Call collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work.