Doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who have been treating Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he was rushed there following his cardiac arrest during his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 say he has continued to show “substantial improvement.”
“We would like to share that there has been substantial improvement in his condition over the past 24 hours,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, division chief of general surgery at University of Cincinnati Health, said in a conference call with reporters on Jan. 5.
“We had significant concern about him after the injury and after the event that happened on the field, but he is making substantial progress. As of this morning, he is beginning to awaken, and it appears that his neurological condition in function is intact. We are very proud to report that, very happy for him and for his family and for the Buffalo Bills organization that he is making improvement.”
Pritts said Hamlin is still quite sick, but added the 24-year-old second-year player has reached a “turning point.”
“Now, he continues to be critically ill and continues to undergo intensive care in our surgical and trauma ICU,” Pritts said. “He is being cared for by ICU, neurocritical care teams, trauma surgery and a cardiology team, as well as our expert nurses and respiratory therapists. They are attending to him, and he still has significant progress that he needs to make, but this marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care.”
The news echoes an earlier statement in the day from the Bills that said Hamlin was making “steady progress.”
It’s unclear what caused the cardiac arrest, and his doctors have “many other things (they) need to work through” before confirming a definitive cause, said Dr. William Knight IV, director of the Emergency Medicine MLP Program at UC Health.
Pritts said that Hamlin has “no identifiable neurological deficit” at this stage but that it’s necessary to let Hamlin’s body recover in its own time. He shared Hamlin still isn’t speaking because he has a breathing tube, but he has been able to communicate by writing with a pen and paper.
“We’re in a situation where we wanted to allow him to gradually wake up as his body was healing,” Pritts said. “Last night, he was able to … follow commands, and he even asked who had won the game.”
“To paraphrase one of our partners, when he asked, ‘Did we win?’ the answer is, ‘Yes, Damar you won. You’ve won the game of life,’” Pritts added.
“He’s not quite at the point where we can have a conversation because, again, he still has a breathing tube in,” Pritts continued. “He’s able to communicate with ‘Yeses’ or ‘Nos,’ shaking his head, nodding his head.” Pritts said.
Hamlin is also now moving his hands and feet, Pritts confirmed.
While Hamlin’s care team remains optimistic, “there are many, many steps still ahead of him,” Pritts said. “From our standpoint, we would like to see him continue to improve, to be completely breathing on his own and to be ready to be discharged from the hospital.”
That said, it’s too early to know when Hamlin might be released from the intensive care unit or the hospital.
For now, Hamlin is aware of how his ordeal has captured the nation’s attention.
“He expressed surprise that he had been not with the world for two days, and we’ve talked to him about all the support that’s been given from Cincinnati, Buffalo and really all across the country, for him and his family during this time,” Pritts said. “His mom and dad have talked to him about what has happened, and we expect that we’ll continue to have ongoing conversations with him. … We know that it’s not only that the lights are on, we know that he’s home.”
The NFL has made no decision on whether the Bengals and Bills will resume their game. This coming weekend marks the final week of regular season play in the league. The Bills are scheduled to host the New England Patriots, while the Bengals will entertain the Baltimore Ravens, with both games schedules for Jan. 8.
Source: Today
