How Bills’ Damar Hamlin recovered from cardiac arrest, became starter

The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals met in Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season in what was one of the most anticipated matchups of the regular season.

Both teams were viewed as the teams with the best chance to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, the prohibitive AFC favorite, in the postseason. The winner of the contest would likely stake a claim to a home playoff game and have the inside track to an AFC championship game appearance.

But the ‘Monday Night Football’ game between the two rivals never officially was played. It was suspended and later postponed when Damar Hamlin suddenly went down in the first quarter of the contest.

Hamlin’s heart stopped on the field after he made a tackle. He was given urgent medical care by Buffalo’s staff and received CPR before being taken away in an ambulance. Players were naturally distraught as they feared for Hamlin’s life.

Just 11 days later, Hamlin would be discharged from the hospital after a miraculous recovery. Less than two years after his near-death experience, he has completed an improbable NFL comeback to be a starter for the Bills.

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Here’s what to know about Hamlin’s remarkable return to the NFL as a key cog in a top contender’s defense.

Damar Hamlin timeline: From cardiac arrest to Bills starter

Jan. 2, 2023: Damar Hamlin suffers a cardiac arrest on the field after tackling receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the Bills vs. Bengals game. Hamlin briefly got up before falling to the ground, which prompted Buffalo’s medical staff to rush out to him.

Bills medical staffers administered CPR to Hamlin, who was placed onto a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center while the game was suspended and later postponed.

No updates about Hamlin’s condition were provided on the night of the incident. The Bills reported the following morning that Hamlin had suffered a cardiac arrest and had his heartbeat restored on the field. The team also announced he was in critical condition.

Jan. 6, 2023: After a few days in the hospital on a ventilator, the Bills announced that Hamlin was able to talk to his family and breathe on his own. Dr. Timothy Pritts reveals Hamlin’s ‘neurological condition and function is intact,’ and Hamlin is able to FaceTime his teammates and coaches briefly.

‘Love you boys,’ he tells them, per the Bills.

Jan. 7, 2023: Hamlin first posts to social media after being in the hospital. He thanks Bills and NFL fans alike for their support during his ordeal and acknowledges he has a long recovery ahead of him.

Hamlin continues to post updates, pictures and thoughts about his teammates to social media during their final regular-season game and playoff run.

Jan. 11, 2023: Two days after being transferred from University of Cincinnati Medical Center to Buffalo General Medical Center, Hamlin is discharged from the hospital entirely.

Jan. 14, 2023: Hamlin visits the Bills the day before their playoff game against the Dolphins. He doesn’t attend the actual contest as he continues to recover from his cardiac arrest, but he visits the facility often during the rest of the team’s playoff run.

‘Damar Hamlin is in the building now, almost starting daily,’ coach Sean McDermott said the day after Buffalo’s 34-31 win over Miami. ‘He’s not in meetings but [is] taking it one baby step at a time.’

Jan. 22, 2023: Hamlin attends the Bills’ season-ending loss against the Bengals at Highmark Stadium. Hamlin is shown on the Jumbotron, and the Buffalo fans go wild cheering him on.

Feb. 13, 2023: Hamlin discusses his recovery for the first time in an interview with ABC. He admitted he was ‘still working through things’ mentally despite making physical strides in his recovery.

‘I’m still trying to process all the emotions and the trauma that comes from, you know, dealing with a situation like that and not really having people around or, you know, like, no one in my immediate circle who’s dealt with something like that,’ Hamlin told Good Morning America.

April 18, 2023: Hamlin announces he intends to play football during the 2023 NFL season three and a half months after his on-field cardiac arrest.

‘I’ve been beating statistics my whole life, so I like my chances here,’ Hamlin said of returning to football, per NFL.com.

Hamlin also reveals his cardiac arrest occurred because of commotio cordis, a condition during which the heart stops after a sudden, blunt impact to the chest. He also details that he is using his foundation to raise awareness about CPR training and AED usage and wants to use his comeback to motivate others who have faced hardships akin to his.

‘My heart is still in it. My heart is still in the game,’ he said. ‘I love the game. It’s something I want to prove to myself — not nobody else. I just want to show people that fear is a choice. 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 keep putting that right foot in front of the left one and you keep going. I want to stand for that.’

July 31, 2023: Hamlin partakes in padded practice at Bills training camp for the first time. He had participated in activities during Bills OTAs, but he wasn’t in pads at that event.

Hamlin calls his return to the field ‘a roller coaster of emotions.’

“In football, you can’t hit that field with no hesitation,” Hamlin said, per ProFootballTalk. “You’re putting yourself in more danger by doing that. I made the choice to play, but I’m processing a thousand emotions. I’m not afraid to say that it crosses my mind of being a little scared here and there. But like I say, my strength is rooted in my faith, and my faith is stronger than any fear.’

Aug. 12, 2023: Hamlin returns to the field for the Bills in their preseason game against the Colts. He logs three tackles in a 23-19 win, and said that being back on the field ‘felt good.’

‘It for surely felt like a little weight off my shoulders,’ Hamlin told reporters after the game, per the Associated Press. ‘Amazing. It just makes me feel like I’m back in that element.’

Aug. 29, 2023: Hamlin makes the Bills’ 53-man roster after making it through the team’s final cuts. He is the fifth safety on the team’s depth chart, so it isn’t clear how much playing time he will get during the 2023 NFL season.

Oct. 1, 2023: After being inactive for the Bills’ first three games, Hamlin makes his return to the NFL in a 48-20 Week 4 win over the Dolphins. He played 18 special teams stats and doesn’t record a statistic.

After the game, Hamlin expressed he was ecstatic to return to the field.

‘I think it was more so about promising to myself than anything else, just showing myself that I have the courage, I have the strength, that I have the pride, everything, all those words, in me to be able to go through something traumatic and to be able to come back from it,’ Hamlin told The Associated Press. ‘To be able to still do what I love at the highest level in the world is amazing.’

Jan. 21, 2024: Hamlin finishes the 2023 NFL season having played in seven games, including two postseason contests. He logged four total tackles (two in the regular season and two in the postseason) and notched a 2-yard run in Buffalo’s 27-24 playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hamlin is favored to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, but it is given to Joe Flacco for his efforts quarterbacking the Browns.

Aug. 5, 2024: Hamlin is asked about his mindset at Bills training camp in 2024, as he fights for both a roster spot and a potential starting job. He credits returning to the field in 2023 for putting him at ease in advance of the season.

‘My mind is free. My spirit is free. My soul is free,’ Hamlin told The Associated Press. ‘I’m able to think clearly. I’m not hindered by second thoughts of what could maybe happen again.’

Sept. 4, 2024: A week after making Buffalo’s roster for the 2024 season, Sean McDermott names Hamlin one of the team’s starting safeties next to veteran Taylor Rapp.

‘What else can’t this young man do?’ McDermott said of Hamlin’s efforts during training camp and the preseason, per the Bills’ official website.

‘I think it’s consistency and opportunity,’ McDermott added. ‘The opportunity that was there, he took advantage of it and was consistent. (He) built a certain level of rapport with T-Rapp, and that’s important as well at the safety position.’

Hamlin’s Week 1 start would mark his first since the 2022 NFL season. He made 13 starts during that campaign helping to fill in for an injured Micah Hyde.

‘I was super excited,’ Hamlin said of finding out he won a starting job, per CBS News. ‘Not going to lie, man, it’s like a dream come true to work so hard then get what you worked for,’ he added. ‘But I want to continue on. You know, it’s not about just performing in one game.’

Sept. 8, 2024: Hamlin starts for the Bills in their 34-28 win over the Cardinals. He records four tackles and allows a passer rating of 91.7 during the contest, per Pro Football Focus.

Hamlin told reporters he was ‘locked in’ before the game and worried about execution, but he was planning to celebrate starting after the contest.

‘Every moment has been special,’ Hamlin said. ‘I really let myself be present in all my moments. I’ve been taking things one day at a time, so just to be out there today is hella special. It really was.’