Damar Hamlin showed signs of progress overnight, friend says

ByABC News
January 4, 2023, 11:49 AM

Doctors saw promising signs of progress overnight from Damar Hamlin, who remained hospitalized in critical condition as of Wednesday morning, according to a friend and business partner of the Buffalo Bills safety.

Jordon Rooney told ESPN's Coley Harvey that Hamlin is still in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, less than two days after he went into cardiac arrest on the field during the Bills' game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Rooney told ESPN that Hamlin is still sedated, but doctors saw promising readings overnight from him that they had hoped to see by Wednesday morning. Hamlin's agent, Ron Butler, told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on Tuesday night that Hamlin's oxygen levels had improved.

CPR was administered to Hamlin, 24, on the field Monday night for multiple minutes after he collapsed following his tackle of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin received oxygen, according to the ESPN broadcast, as he was placed in the ambulance and taken off the field some 16 minutes after he collapsed. He then was driven to the hospital.

The Bills have announced they will hold meetings and a walk-through Wednesday but will not have any media availability.

The NFL announced Tuesday that the Bills-Bengals game will not be resumed this week, and the league is undecided on resuming the game at a later date. The NFL has not made any changes to the Week 18 regular-season schedule.