Damar Hamlin Practices In Padded Gear For First Time Since Cardiac Arrest

Topline

Damar Hamlin—the Buffalo Bills safety who went into cardiac arrest during a January NFL football game that shook the sporting world—returned to the field in padded gear for an official practice Monday for the first time since he nearly lost his life in January.

Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in January during a Monday Night Football game and was cleared ... [+] to resume football activities in April.

AP/Adrian Kraus

Key Facts

Hamlin, 25, practiced with pads for the first time Monday during training camp, after completing his first full practice since the incident on June 7.

At the time of his first full practice, Bills general manager Brandon Beane said the next goal for Hamlin would be live contact and tackling, which players need pads to do.

Hamlin told reporters Monday that while he’s “processing a thousand emotions” and is “a little scared” he believes he can’t bring any hesitation to the football field or he puts himself in more danger.

Crucial Quote

"Right now, my goal is just one day at a time," Hamlin said Monday, according to the NFL Network. "Even my big goals, I can't even focus on those right now. So my goal is just one day at a time, just coming out in practice, focusing on one period, one second, one play, one step at a time, honestly. "

Key Background

During a high-profile January 2 Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin collapsed on the field after the end of a play following a hit. Doctors and trainers who were at the stadium performed CPR on Hamlin and revived him using a defibrillator. Many were watching the game as the scene unfolded and the game did not proceed after Hamlin’s near-death experience. He spent the next few days on a ventilator and more than a week in the hospital before he was released. Hamlin was cleared to resume football activities in April, months after medical professionals determined Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was caused by commotio cordis. That form of cardiac arrest occurs when blunt trauma to the chest sends the heart into ventricular fibrillation (abnormal heartbeats), according to the National Institutes of Health.

Tangent

While Hamlin’s case was rare, cardiac arrest does happen more often to athletes. Just last week, Bronny James—son of NBA star LeBron James—experienced cardiac arrest during basketball practice at the University of Southern California. James was released from the hospital a few days later. But the incident once again brought attention to sudden cardiac arrest. Researchers from the University of Washington said sudden cardiac arrest, the sudden stoppage of the heart, is the leading killer of college athletes. Men are more likely than women to suffer sudden cardiac death, at 1 in 28,000 male athletes compared to 1 in 122,000 female athletes, a statement published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology said.

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