(Reuters) -Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been released from a Cincinnati hospital one week after suffering a cardiac arrest during an NFL game and has returned to Buffalo, New York, doctors said on Monday.
Doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where Hamlin spent the last week said he traveled well by air and will continue to be monitored by a care team in Buffalo.
“I can confirm he is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery,” Dr. William Knight told reporters.
Knight also said that since Friday Hamlin had been up with physical and occupational therapy walking the unit, tolerating a regular diet and meeting with family and many members of the care team.
The 24-year-old Hamlin collapsed during a game last Monday in Cincinnati moments after making a tackle and then had to have his heartbeat restored on the field while stunned players from both teams cried, prayed and hugged.
Hamlin began to wake up two days later and has had his breathing tube removed, while the sporting world and fans alike paid tribute to him.
“Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love on my heart,” Hamlin wrote on Twitter. “Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling.
“The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Leslie Adler and Ken Ferris)
