Damar Hamlin Reveals Specific Diagnosis That Caused His On-Field Collapse

The Bills safety also announced his intention to return for the 2023 NFL season.

Bills safety Damar Hamlin announced his intention to return to the NFL this upcoming season on Tuesday following his more than three month recovery journey after suffering cardiac arrest during a game on Jan. 2.

During his speech to the media on Tuesday, Hamlin detailed that the exact diagnosis doctors gave him is commotio cordis, which is when something hitting an athlete’s chest directly over the heart can cause cardiac arrest and ventricular fibrillation.

Hamlin noted that commotio cordis is the leading cause of death of youth athletes across all sports.

“That’s something that I personally will be taking a step in to make a change,” Hamlin said. “Also, with that being said, all the awareness around CPR and the access to AEDs have been lowering that number as well.”

“This is not the end of my story. I plan to make a comeback to the NFL.” 🫶 pic.twitter.com/jlAMdErKWk

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) April 18, 2023

Hamlin was cleared by doctors for the 2023 season, both he and Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed on Tuesday.

The safety collapsed during the game vs. the Bengals on Jan. 2, which was later canceled. Trainers administered CPR on Hamlin on the field and in the ambulance on the way to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He awoke two days later and was eventually discharged from the hospital nine days after the incident.