CNN
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Buffalo Bills safety Opportunitywho has been cleared to resume football activities, said Tuesday that his cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January was caused by Worry of the heart.
Hamlin entered heart failure after being tackled and hit in the chest by a helmet during the first quarter of the Bills' game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2.
Commotio cordis can occur when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the electrical charge of the heart and causes dangerous fibrillation.
“I died on national television in front of the whole world” Hamlin said in his first session with reporters after the injury. “I've lost a ton of people in my life. I know a ton of people who have lost people in their lives. I know that feeling. That's what the biggest blessing of all of this is – for me to still be with my people and for my people to still have me.”
The 25-year-old was at the Bills' practice facility in Orchard Park, New York, participating in voluntary offseason workouts this week, the team said.
“He's completely vindicated,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane told reporters. “He's here.”
Hamlin said he is fortunate to have a wonderful medical staff who are “treating me while taking care of my children.”
Security said his heart is still in the game and he is announcing his return to the NFL.
“I just want to show people that fear is a choice. You can keep doing something without having the answers and not knowing what's at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “You can feel anxious – you can feel anything – but you just keep putting your right foot in front of your left and keep going. I want to stand behind it.”
Beane said Hamlin saw three different specialists in the offseason, and they all agreed the player was “ready to resume full activity, just like anyone coming back from an injury.”
“(Hamlin) is in a great position to come back and come back,” Beane added.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said the team is excited to have Hamlin back.
“We're very happy for Damar. He's moving forward step by step here. He's cleared up from a physical standpoint,” McDermott said.
“We'll provide all the mental health care we can from a mind, body and spirit standpoint, so we're just happy for him that he's been able to check some of those boxes up to this point and we're moving forward, taking it one day at a time.”
According to the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, if no underlying cardiac abnormalities are found during testing, athletes who have been revived from a heart attack can return to play.
Hamlin likely underwent numerous tests, including an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram, before doctors cleared him to return to practice.
“Basically, it means a couple of things. Number one, his heart function is back to normal. He doesn't have any underlying problems with the anatomy of the heart itself, and he doesn't have any underlying electrical problems, so that's the most important thing – and over the last three and a half months, they've found that out through a lot of tests,” CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on “CNN News.” Central”.
