Damar Hamlin has been released from the hospital a week after his on-field cardiac arrest and collapse.
The 24-year-old was released on Monday after his heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated on the field during an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bills safety had gone through a sustained period of recovery ahead of his release, CNN reported.
On Sunday, six days after the incident, Mr Hamlin shared an image on social media from his hospital bed. He was sitting up, making a heart sign with his hands to show his appreciation for the outpouring of support following his collapse.
In the photo, Mr Hamlin wore a hat with the number three on it as well as a T-shirt with the message “love for Damar”.
“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!” Mr Hamlin tweeted on Monday following his release from hospital.
“Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love [in] my heart. Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling. The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more. Bigger than football!” he wrote on the platform.
Mr Hamlin tweeted several times during the Bills 35-22 victory against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
“It’s GameDay & There’s Nothing I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers,” he said.
Several NFL teams honoured Mr Hamlin on Sunday as players, coaches, and fans wore T-shirts and jersey patches, and held signs with his name and the number three.
Mr Hamlin was taken to hospital in critical condition after he collapsed on the field after a tackle during the game against the Bengals.
The team said in a statement that the 24-year-old had suffered cardiac arrest. Mr Hamlin received CPR on the field before he was taken to a hospital.
“It’s very reassuring to find out that they actually were able to restore cardiac activity on the field,” Dr Anthony Cardillo told CNN last week. “This is critical, and it’s really going to be critical in his further developments.”
“A lot of us have been looking at these videos and surmising that what most likely happened is a traumatic cardiac arrest,” the emergency room specialist added at the time.
“When he was hit in that chest anteriorly, as hard as he was, it’s a phenomenon known as commotio cordis. This is when you get traumatic injury to the anterior chest, just as the heart is getting prepared to have another beat,” he said.
“It’s during that repolarization phase and the electromechanical activity of the heart ... the heart is fueled by electrical impulse,” Dr Cardillo noted. “If you have trauma at an exact moment, when that heart is getting ready to repolarize and beat again, you will go into cardiac arrest.”
The doctor said Mr Hamlin’s survival was a “testimonial to the quick action of the medical professionals on that field that saved his life”.
