Bills’ Damar Hamlin moved to Buffalo hospital in ‘next stage’ of cardiac recovery

Damar Hamlin was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in the morning and flown to western New York, where he will continue his recovery.

Doctors who treated Damar Hamlin said the Bills’ safety was moved to a hospital in Buffalo on Monday, an uplifting sign of the remarkable progress he has made a week after going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field during a game in Cincinnati.

Hamlin was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in the morning and flown to western New York, where he will continue his recovery.

He was listed in stable condition at Buffalo General Medical Center.

“I can confirm that he is doing well. And this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery,” said Dr. William Knight, one of his doctors in Cincinnati.

Doctors said Hamlin has been walking since Friday, and eating regular food and undergoing therapy. They said he was on a normal or even accelerated trajectory in his recovery from cardiac arrest, which is considered a life-threatening event, and that normal recovery can be measured from weeks to months.

“We continue to be ecstatic about his recovery,” Dr. Timothy Pritts said.

Hamlin’s return comes a day after he cheered on the Bills from his hospital bed during their regular season-ending 35-23 win over the New England Patriots. The game proved to be a cathartic outpouring of support for the Bills and Hamlin.

Hamlin was so excited watching teammate Nyheim Hines return the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown that “he jumped up and down, got out of his chair, set every alarm off in the ICU in the process,” Pritts said with a laugh.