Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin has regained consciousness and "all cylinders are firing within his brain", according to doctors. The star was resuscitated on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest during Monday's game against the Bengals.
Praise has been given to the team which fought to save his life on the pitch - and medics have revealed the first question he asked after regaining consciousness. In a video press conference on Thursday doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said he has made 'substantial improvement' in the past 24 hours.
And while he remains in intensive care at the UC hospital, according to UC medics William Knight and Timothy Pritts, he is making good progress. He remains intubated to assist with breathing with the next hurdle in his recovery process is to progress to breathing on his own, according to both doctors.
"It's not only that the lights are on. We know that he's home. It appears all the cylinders are firing within his brain," Dr. Pritts said.
When the 24-year-old awoke on Wednesday night, one of his first questions he asked via writing was who won the Bills-Bengals game. Doctors told him, "You won. You've won the game of life."
The doctors gave more details of the life-saving actions on the pitch by the Bills training staff which meant he was able to survive long enough to get to hospital. Dr Pritts said they "couldn't credit" the Bills medical team enough for their speedy response after realising the severity of the situation.
He said: "The Bills training staff who was with him immediately recognized that this was not a run of the mill injury and that they had a significant event on their hands and immediately responded and got the emergency response team involved in his care. And really, this went as well as something like this could go under very challenging circumstances, and they did a fantastic job which is why we're here today."
According to the Buffalo Bills website one of the many members of the Bills training staff who stepped up was Bills assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington who administered CPR to Hamlin on the field. Both doctors confirmed that when Hamlin collapsed on the field, he had a pulse and then lost it, which is why the decision for the Bills staff to perform CPR was made.
Bills coach Sean McDermott spoke at a press conference at Highmark Stadium Thursday evening, adding more context to the interaction. "Just like anything else, that whole team, our medical team, they go through their exercise, mock exercises for things like this," McDermott explained.
"The context of it for an assistant to find himself at that position and needing to take the action that he did and step up and take charge like he did, and there were others on the field as well, is nothing short of amazing. And the courage that that took, you talk about a real leader, a real hero and saving Damar's life. Just admire his strength."
The player is still unable to speak because of the breathing tube. It is not yet known when this will be removed. Dr Knight said: 'Every patient is different. When patients' families ask, how long are they going to be on a ventilator, in the ICU, [we'll say], as long as it takes."
However the doctors said he has been able to hold hands with his family as he continued to show improvement. His parents and other family along with members of the Buffalo Bills administrative and medical teams have been "at his bedside throughout" said Dr Knight.
Dr. Pritts and Dr. Knight both said that the next step in the player's recovery is showing he can fully breathe on his own and continuing to demonstrate sound neurological condition and function. And they said the best case scenario is getting him back to the health level he was at prior to the game.
Dr Knight said: "The best is getting him to the way he was at 8 o'clock on Monday evening. Is completely neurologically intact, strong, good lung function, no cardiac dysfunction with his heart. The best outcome would be back to who he was before this all happened."
Damar collapsed on the pitch following a routine tackle during the first quarter of the match. The safety tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, leaving him on the ground. He stood up after the tackle, took two steps then fell to the floor again.
His opponent was unhurt but Damar went into cardiac arrest. The match was postponed but the NFL has now said it will not be played.
