Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, whose cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game in January made national headlines, has been medically cleared for full football activity.
Hamlin has joined the Bills for voluntary workouts this week and is still seeing medical specialists since he collapsed and was resuscitated during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Tuesday that all three specialists evaluating Hamlin have cleared him to resume football activities.
“They’re all in agreement – it’s not two to one or three to one or anything like that – they’re all in lockstep of what this was and that he is cleared to resume full activities just like anyone else that was coming back from an injury,” Beane said during a news conference Tuesday.
“He’s fully cleared. He’s here. And he’s of the mindset – he’s in a great headspace – to come back and make his return.”
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During this offseason, the Bills have openly supported Hamlin’s comeback attempt with medical advice.
Beane said Hamlin is in great spirits with “every intention to play” football again.
Beane said Hamlin has one more visit with a specialist that will be completed this month. He added Bills’ team doctors and medical personnel will also be privy to conversations Hamlin and his evaluators have had to ensure everyone is in tune with his comeback.
“Everything is checked out to this point. It’s trending through the right direction,” Beane said. “We’re rooting for him. He wants to do it, and we want to see him do it. That’s where we’re at today.”
Hamlin was admitted to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and sedated for two days before waking up Jan. 4. His first question upon waking up was asking doctors if the Bills won their regular-season game against the Bengals.
“Did we win?” Hamlin asked on paper, to which doctors responded that he “won the game of life.”
Hamlin began breathing on his own and walking around the intensive care unit two days later. He was released from the hospital Jan. 9 and flew home to Buffalo, where he spent two days at the Buffalo General Medical Center under evaluation.
Hamlin returned to the Bills facility in mid-January as the team navigated its postseason run before losing to the Bengals on Jan. 22.
Hamlin and his team of doctors and first responders during his incident were honored several times during Super Bowl week in February, including on the field during pregame celebrations on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
Hamlin received an outpouring of support following his incident, as people donated more than $9 million to a GoFundMe page dedicated to The Chasing M’s Foundation Community Toy Drive.
Hamlin, a sixth-round pick by the Bills in 2021, has two years remaining on his rookie contract with Buffalo, counting for $980,119 on the salary cap in 2023 and slightly more than $1 million in 2024.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bills’ Damar Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest, cleared by doctors