Damar Hamlin has revealed what caused his cardiac arrest.
Hamlin, the Bills defensive back who collapsed on the field after a seemingly routine tackle of Bengals wideout Tee Higgins in early January, announced Tuesday that he intends to make an NFL comeback, and explained to reporters what doctors told him about his scare with death.
“The diagnosis of what happened to me was commotio cordis,” Hamlin said.
“It’s a direct blow at a specific point in your heartbeat that causes cardiac arrest. Five to seven seconds later, you fall out, and that’s pretty much what everybody’s seen Jan. 2 of this year. Commotio cordis is the leading cause of death in youth athletes across all sports, so that’s something that I will personally be taking a step in to make a change.”
Hamlin, 25, expounded on why he wishes to return to football.
“My heart is still in it,” Hamlin said. “My heart is still in the game. I love the game. It’s something I want to prove to myself, not nobody else, I just want to show people that fear is a choice and you can keep going in something without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel. You might feel anxious or any type of way but you just keep putting your right foot in front of the left foot and you keep going.”
The Bills announced earlier Tuesday that Hamlin is fully cleared to resume football activities.
In his press conference, Hamlin also said, “I died on national TV in front of the whole world,” and that he will use his near-death experience to try to prevent it from happening to others.
Hamlin’s marketing rep, Jordon Rooney of Jaster Athletes, slammed everybody who speculated about other causes of Hamlin’s cardiac arrest.
“For months Damar dealt with scrutiny as he recovered from this. There were outrageous theories on his medical condition. Every single doctor said commotio cordis. He experienced life-altering trauma and wanted to finish his medical testing before officially speaking publicly,” Rooney tweeted.
“The talk about the vaccine and accusations around him ‘hiding things’ were completely untrue and slanderous. Every medical expert said commotio cordis. Imagine dying on national TV and have thousands of people questioning your death and how you’re handling your trauma.”