The Buffalo Bills said safety Damar Hamlin has shown “signs of improvement” as he continues to recover from a cardiac arrest episode during his team’s Monday night football contest against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Damar remains in the ICU in critical condition with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight,” the team wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.
“He is expected to remain under intensive care as his health care team continues to monitor and treat him,” it added.
The Bills’s statement comes after Hamlin’s uncle Dorrian Glenn told CNN in an interview that the former University of Pittsburgh player had to be resuscitated twice by medical officials after he suffered cardiac arrest following his tackle of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during the first quarter of Monday’s contest.
Hamlin, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, stood up after the play was over, only to collapse to the ground a few seconds later. The game was suspended and medical authorities administrated CPR on the field before he was taken to a local medical facility by ambulance.
Glenn told the news outlet that it was “heartbreaking” to see his nephew motionless on the field while he was watching the contest.
“I’m not a crier, but I’ve never cried so hard in my life. Just to know like my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back to life,” Glenn told CNN.
The Bills-Bengals contest was postponed indefinitely due to Hamlin’s injury, as players and coaches on both teams were visibly shaken. The NFL hasn’t announced if they will resume the game with the beginning of its postseason just over a week away.
In response to the incident, fans have raised more than $6.5 million for Hamlin’s charitable foundation, the Chasing M’s Foundation Community Toy Drive, through the foundation’s GoFundMe page.