According to AOL,
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was released from an Ohio hospital Monday, saying he’s “grateful” for the care he received since collapsing and nearly dying last week during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin was transferred to a hospital in Buffalo, New York, to continue his recovery, one week after the medical incident unfolded on “Monday Night Football” before millions of television viewers.
“I traveled with him to the airport this morning with our UC Health air care and mobile care crew, including teammates who were with us on the field when Damar Hamlin collapsed,” said Dr. William Knight IV, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Knight added that Hamlin “still has a little bit of a ways to go in terms of his ongoing recovery.”
Hamlin walked his first lap Friday, after his breathing tube was removed that morning.
“He’s certainly on what we consider a very normal to even accelerated trajectory from the life-threatening event that he underwent, but is making great progress,” said Dr. Timothy Pritts, division chief of general surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and vice chair for clinical operations at UC Health.
Hamlin tweeted his own message on Monday afternoon: “Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!”
Knight called Hamlin’s release “probably the most awesome discharge from our hospital that we’ve had in a long time.”
Doctors said the decision to send Hamlin to Buffalo came after his condition improved from what they considered “critical” to “fair or good” on Monday morning.
That means his organ systems were stable and improving, and he no longer needed intensive nursing care or respiratory therapy.
The Bills said on Friday that Hamlin was able to talk to his family and care team and FaceTimed into a team meeting, telling his fellow players: “Love you boys.”
His condition continued to improve over the weekend, according to UC Health. Hamlin live tweeted reactions on Sunday to the Bills’ game against the New England Patriots.
When his teammate Nyheim Hines ran back the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, Hamlin jumped up and down, doctors said, and accidentally set off alarms in the ICU.
