Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been discharged from a Buffalo hospital more than a week after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a game on Jan. 2, and he will continue his rehabilitation at home and with the team, the Bills announced on Wednesday.
"We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills," Dr. Jamie Nadler, the care team lead for Hamlin at Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, said in a statement.
Hamlin was released on Monday from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he had been under care since the events of Jan. 2, and he was transferred to the Buffalo General Medical Center that same day.
"We're obviously grateful first and foremost that he's home and with his parents and his brother, which is great," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Wednesday. "I'm sure it's felt like a long time since he's been able to be home naturally there, and I'm sure it's a great feeling."
McDermott said they'll leave it up to Hamlin on when he feels ready to return to the Bills' facility in Orchard Park, N.Y.
"We'll leave it up to him," McDermott said. "His health is first and foremost on our mind as far as his situation goes, and then when he feels ready, we'll welcome back."
Wednesday's news is the latest in a series of positive developments for Hamlin since the frightening scene Jan. 2 in Cincinnati.
Dr. William Knight, a UC health physician, told reporters on Monday that Hamlin has been able to walk and tolerate a "regular diet," and has been undergoing physical and occupational therapy as he continues to progress in his recovery. Doctors also said Monday that Hamlin did not suffer "any cervical spine injury" and that he currently is able to walk with "a normal gait" as a product of how he remains "neurologically intact."
