BUFFALO, N.Y. — After not one but two returns in Damar Hamlin’s honor yesterday — the real one came Monday, as he finally returned home to Buffalo.
“He still has a little bit of a ways to go in terms of his ongoing recovery,” said Dr. William Knight of University of Cincinnati Medical Center. “We're thrilled to where he is today.”
And not only is he back home, but back on his feet, as doctors say he took his first steps on Friday with assistance, just hours after his breathing tube was removed.
"He appears to be neurologically completely intact, and there's no reason to believe that he won't continue his path to recovery,” said Dr. Timothy Pritts of UCMC.
While that current path to recovery may be encouraging for fans, doctors are urging them to understand it’s still too early to have any conversations regarding Hamlin’s return to the field and that the focus, as of right now, needs remain on his recovery
“The goal for every patient who’s suffered a serious illness or injury is to help them return as close to baseline as possible,” Pritts said. “We anticipate that he would have, likely, ongoing needs whether it is therapy working with different specialists.”
As Damar continues down this road, doctors want fans to use No. 3’s story as an inspiration, encouraging them to get CPR certified so they, too, can make difference one day in their own communities
“We all won out of this,” Pritts said. “He’s won as the patient. Hopefully everybody will go out and get trained in CPR, so that you too can save a life someday.”