5 months after nearly dying on the football field, Damar Hamlin returns to practice

While he has yet to participate in full practices, Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, took part in individual drills and stretching exercises during an organized group activity session Tuesday.

Five months after NFL fans nationwide witnessed Damar Hamlin having a near-death experience when he collapsed on the field in the middle of a football game, he rejoined the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.

While he has yet to participate in full practices, the safety took part in individual drills and stretching exercises during an organized group activity session at the Bills’ training building on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.

Coach Sean McDermott said the Bills organization was moving cautiously, declining to disclose a potential timeline for lifting the restrictions on Hamlin’s participation on the practice field.

“We’re just going to continue to take it one day at a time,” McDermott said, according to The Post, “and support Damar in every way possible.”

On Jan. 2, during a nationally broadcast “Monday Night Football” game that was postponed and never replayed, Hamlin collapsed after taking a blow to the chest while tackling Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Medical staff attempted to revive Hamlin before his transport to a hospital in Buffalo, where he ended up on a ventilator and a breathing tube for a few days. 

Hamlin remained hospitalized for nine days before being released and continuing to receive care at home under the Bills’ supervision.

The 25-year-old was determined to have experienced commotio cordis, a relatively uncommon occurrence in which a person’s heart is hit hard in the middle of one of the electrical impulses that keep the organ beating.

John Butler, the defensive backs coach for Buffalo, said on Tuesday that Hamlin’s recovery has been “a miracle” and that the athlete is unquestionably moving in the right direction.

After receiving a clean bill of health from several doctors following his “life-changing” event, Hamlin shared last month his desire to resume his NFL career, sharing that his heart was still in the game.

“It’s something I want to prove to myself, not nobody else,” Hamlin said at the time, The Post reported. “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.”

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