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Damar Hamlin announced he’s cleared to return to the NFL over three months after going into cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“This event was life-changing, but it’s not the end of my story,” Hamlin announced at a press conference in the Bills’ facility. “So, I’m here to announce that I plan on making a comeback to the NFL.”
Hamlin apprized reporters that he suffered from commotio cordis, which happens when a hard impact interrupts a heart rhythm.
When the heart beats normally, it also rests in between each beat. In Hamlin’s case, he took a brutal hit right as his heart was about to relax. The impact caused the heart to fibrillate (beat abnormally).
He added that he went to different specialists who all agreed that he was in a better condition. Hamlin decided to get back in the NFL game.
“My heart is still in it. My heart is still in the game,” the Bills’ safety professed. “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 in something without having the answers and without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel. Or 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.”
NewsOnyx reported that Hamlim collapsed on the field during the Bengals vs. Bills game on Jan. 2. Medical personnel administered an AED and CPR and transported him to a nearby hospital.
According to the National Library of Medicine, 95% of reported commotio cordis cases betide with males, especially among male athletes. The survival rate is lower among African Americans than white.
It’s remarkable how Hamlin defeated those odds.