On Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season, Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field collapse due to a cardiac arrest. A few months later, the Buffalo Bills safety has addressed the matter, announcing a shocking decision towards the 2023 campaign.
Paycor Stadium witnessed one of the most frightening moments in NFL history when Tee Higgins, wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, clashed with Damar Hamlin in what seemed to be a normal play. However, the safety immediately fell to the ground and everyone started worrying about him.
Fortunately, Hamlin was able to recover, but obviously his 2022 season was over. Ahead of the upcoming campaign, the safety has revealed his plans and his decision has the entire league in shock.
Damar Hamlin announces shocking plan after on-field collapse
The game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals of the 2022 regular season will always be remembered. The match was suspended due to Damar Hamlin suffering a commotio cordis, which is a cardiac arrest produced by a strong hit.
The American Heart Association establishes that the commotio cordis is "an extremely rare, serious medical condition that can happen after a sudden, blunt impact to the chest. If the physical blow hits during a narrow window in the heart rhythm, it can disrupt the heartbeat and cause sudden cardiac arrest."
However, this condition won't stop Damar Hamlin's plans. The safety has revealed he has been working to play the 2023 campaign as he has been fully cleared to return to football activities.
"I'm thankful and blessed," Hamlin said at a press conference Tuesday. "I'm blessed to have wonderful trainers here who treat me with the love and care as if I were their own children. ... This event was life-changing, but it's not the end of my story. I'm here to announce that I plan on making a comeback to the NFL. The diagnosis of what happened to me was basically commotio cordis. It's a direct blow at a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest, and five to seconds later you fall out. That's what everyone has seen back on January 2nd of this year. commotio cordis is the leading cause of (death for) athletes across all youth sports, so that's something I will be taking a step in to make a change. The awareness around CPR and the access to AEDs have been lowering that number as well."
