Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin wore pads in practice on Monday for the first time since his cardiac arrest in January.
That step forward wasn’t lost on the 25-year-old.
“It feels amazing,” Hamlin said. “It was a roller coaster of emotions. I was kinda all over the place, just kinda being back for the first time.”
The Bills wore pads for the first time during training camp on Monday. Coach Sean McDermott told reporters last week that Hamlin would be a “full go” during camp.
“Super big hurdle as you can imagine. Pretty much lost my life playing this sport,” Hamlin said. “So to come back and do it all over again, (the emotions are) all over the place. I’m rooted in my faith and I’m rooted in the love that I receive from my family, my teammates and the love all over the world — it keeps me going.
“I got goals that I still want to achieve within this game. Football teaches you so much about yourself. It teaches you so much about life. You learn so much about yourself through the game. What bigger challenge? It’s a challenge, so I’m embracing it.”
It was against the Bengals in Cincinnati on Jan. 2 that Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field, where trainers and medical staff saved his life. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit and stayed there one week, discharged to continue his recovery in Buffalo.
Hamlin was a sixth-round draft pick of the Bills in 2021.
–Field Level Media