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January 5, 2023 The latest updates on NFL star Damar Hamlin's condition

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales and Matt Meyer, CNN

Updated 9:26 a.m. ET, January 6, 2023

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3:46 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Here's what we learned today about Damar Hamlin's recovery

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin adjusts his chin strap during a game against the New England Patriots on December 1 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Greg M. Cooper/AP)

There has been a "remarkable improvement" in the health of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, his team said Thursday, with doctors saying the player's "neurological condition and function is intact."

If you're just joining us, here are the major takeaways from today's news conference at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin has been treated since he collapsed Monday night:

Hamlin has made "substantial progress": The player is demonstrating signs of "good neurologic recovery as well as overall clinical improvement," UC Health Dr. William Knight told reporters.
It's still a long road to recovery: Doctors emphasized multiple times that Hamlin has a "ways to go." He'll need to start breathing on his own, and taking him off a ventilator will be a cautious, gradual process. UC Health Dr. Timothy Pritts said it's too soon to say for sure whether he'll make a full recovery.
Hamlin is interacting with family: Loved ones at Hamlin's bedside have been able to hold his hand and communicate with him through written messages, though the player isn't speaking. Doctors said he even asked if the Bills had won the game.
The cause of his cardiac arrest is not yet clear: The doctors said tests are still underway to determine what caused the medical emergency and that there are no "definitive answers" at this time.
An outpouring of support: Doctors thanked community members for holding vigils, sending food to the hospital and lighting Cincinnati in the Bills' red and blue.

2:52 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Doctors say easing Hamlin off the ventilator will be a gradual process

From CNN's Carma Hassan

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin still has a way to go in his recovery, according to his doctors, and it’s too early to project the future.

“There are many, many steps still ahead of him. From our standpoint, we would like to see him continue to improve, to be completely breathing on his own and to be ready to be discharged from the hospital,” University of Cincinnati Health Dr. Timothy Pritts said.

“He has a little ways to go in terms of liberation from the ventilator,” UC Health Dr. William Knight added.

The player's doctors said they’d like to get him off the ventilator as soon as possible, but every patient is different, and Hamlin will get all the support he needs for as long as he needs.

“We sort of view the ventilator as an aid for him as he needs it. And so you know, after the initial event, we were supporting him on the ventilator 100%. And what our goal really is for liberation from mechanical ventilation is to gradually decrease the amount of support and let him pick up the difference and when we reach 0% support, breathing tube comes out, and we define that as success,” Pritts said.

Hamlin’s family and teammates have been at his bedside since he has been hospitalized, Pritts said.

2:25 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Hamlin is on a ventilator and can't speak, but he is writing

From CNN's Carma Hassan

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is still on a ventilator, his doctors said on Thursday. Hamlin is able to communicate in writing, but is not speaking.

“He is unable to speak with us yet as he still has a breathing tube in and we're still assisting him with ventilation,” Dr. Timothy Pritts of UC Health said.

When he began to wake up, the first question he wrote on a clipboard was, “Did we win?”

UC Health Dr. William Knight said the immediate response following Hamlin’s collapse made a difference in how he is recovering.

“The fact that he had highly trained professionals from the Buffalo Bills in addition to having paramedics, emergency physicians, respiratory therapists, all right at his bedside in less than a minute from the collapse — that speaks to that ability that demonstrates that he had good perfusion to his brain that led to no identifiable neurologic deficit,” Knight said.

2:28 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

"It's been very powerful." Doctor says he can feel the community rallying around his staff

Football fans pray outside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin receives care January 2 in Cincinnati. (Cara Owsley/USA Today Network/Reuters)

The medical team at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center has been moved by the outpouring of support for Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, a doctor said Thursday.

"It's been very powerful," said Dr. William Knight, who serves as the lead physician and professor of emergency medicine at UC Health.

"We have been surrounded by a great ... team. Dr. (Timothy) Pritts and I have been able to get to know this amazing family and this amazing organization, in a matter of 48 hours having friends and having family," Knight said.

Fans hold a candlelight vigil for Damar Hamlin on January 3 outside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati. (Jeff Dean/Getty Images)

"But then looking outside, I mean all I have to do is look over my left shoulder, and I see vigils and posters and well-wishers, and the food that has showed up at the hospital for the support for the family, and for the emergency department and for the surgical ICU team," the doctor continued.

"It doesn't take long to look outside and to see the lights, the blue and the red around the city of Cincinnati, the support from local restaurants, the support from the fans and just people who are concerned," the doctor said.

Asked if Hamlin was aware of the outpouring of support, both doctors speaking to the media replied in unison: "He's learning it today."

2:23 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

CNN's Sanjay Gupta explains what you need to know about Damar Hamlin's health and recovery

Doctors at the University of Cicinnati Medical Center shared a lot of information on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's condition.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains what it all means:

The key message: The doctors have described "a substantial amount of improvement" since it's only been two and a half days since Hamlin collapsed on field during a game on Monday night, Gupta says. "Not only in terms of his overall status, but also ... his neurological status in particular."
What to consider: "One of the things that you worry about when somebody has cardiac arrest is that there simply wasn't enough oxygenated blood getting to the body, including the brain. And as a result, you don't really know sometimes until someone actually has woken up from sedation and tested the way he was," Gupta explained.
Positive points in Hamlin's health status: "Being able to communicate. He can't talk — he still has a breathing tube in — but was able to communicate, shake his head, nod his head, things like that. And he's also moving his hands and feet," Gupta noted, adding that's important, "because you worry about spinal cord injuries as well. Those things appear to be doing well. He does not appear to have any deficit there."
But doctors still describe him as "critically ill": "That's important to remember. I mean it's only been two and a half days. There may be sort of periods of a little bit of roller coaster still in terms of recovery is what you sometimes see with critically ill patients. It may not be a linear track towards improvement," Gupta noted.

2:21 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Damar Hamlin has "ways to go," physician says

Physicians for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin said Thursday that he has "ways to go" after he suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field on Monday night during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"We want to see him continue to breathe more on his own, and we want to get him breathing completely on his own. That will be the next big milestone for him," said Dr. William Knight, director of emergency medicine, during a virtual news conference.

Asked if the 24-year-old football player would be able to fully recover, Pritts said that it's too early to predict.

"The focus right now in terms of helping him to recover, liberate (from the ventilator) and continue to get stronger and rehabilitate, but it is entirely too early to project into the future," said Dr. Timothy Pritts of UC health.

2:06 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Damar Hamlin asked who won the game between Bills and Bengals, doctor says

Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin, left, and Jordan Poyer run onto the field before the Bills' game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2 in Cincinnati. (Joshua A. Bickel/AP)

UC Health doctors said Damar Hamlin has even asked who had won the game between his Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals in which he suffered cardiac arrest.

Hamlin has not spoken yet, said Dr. Timothy Pritts, so Hamlin's communication has all been through writing.

"We are in the situation where we wanted to allow him to gradually wake up as the rest of his body was healing and last night, he was able to emerge and follow commands and even ask who had won the game," he said.

"When he asked, 'did we win?,' the answer is, yes, you know, Damar, you won. You've won the game of life and that's probably the important thing out of this, and we really need to keep him in the center of everything else that's going on, and we really want to ensure a good outcome for him," he said.

2:03 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Hospital officials credit Bills staff for quick recognition and resuscitating Hamlin on the field

Dr. William Knight, left, and Dr. Timothy Pritts from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center share an update on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin via videoconference Thursday afternoon. (UC Health)

Officials at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center outlined the emergency response from the time Damar Hamlin collapsed during the Buffalo Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The hospital's director of emergency medicine, Dr. William Knight, said a "significant number of care team" was present at the game and were "involved in helping with Mr. Hamlin on the field on Monday night."

That included four of the hospital's emergency physicians in various roles, along with medical staff from both teams.

Knight credited the Buffalo Bills medical staff for quickly recognizing the safety had suffered a cardiac arrest, saying "that allowed for a very immediate resuscitation on the field."

"He was promptly resuscitated. It did require CPR and defibrillation," Knight said during a news conference Thursday.

At that point, he was rushed to the hospital.

"He was managed and resuscitated and worked up in the emergency department, had some additional tests in the ED and in the hospital, and then has been managed in the surgical ICU," Knight said.

3:15 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Doctor says tests are still ongoing to determine cause of Hamlin's cardiac arrest

From CNN's Carma Hassan and Adrienne Vogt

When asked about a specific cause of Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest, a University of Cincinnati doctor said tests are still underway to determine it.

"The answer to that is that that workup is ongoing. We do not have definitive answers as to the etiology of the arrest, and tests will continues to progress," said Dr. William Knight, lead physician and professor of emergency medicine at UC Health.

Knight said they aren’t ruling out commotio cordis, but it is too soon to tell without further testing.

Commotio cordis — when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge and causes dangerous fibrillations – is an “incredibly rare event that happens. It's also a diagnosis of exclusion in our world, which basically means we have to rule out many other more common or more deadly or more fixable type conditions before we can settle in on an ultimate diagnosis such as that,” said Knight.

“Is it on the list of considerations? It is, but he has many other things that we need to work through before a final etiology or cause for this arrest can be definitively defined,” Knight added.

Due to privacy concerns, Hamlin’s doctors repeatedly declined to answer specific questions about results of tests Hamlin is undergoing.

Doctors said review is still pending, and they weren’t able to provide detailed answers about how long Hamlin received CPR, Hamlin’s current oxygen level, whether an echocardiogram done, whether Hamlin has seen a specialist about underlying rhythmic or genetic causes, or whether there was damage to other organs such as the kidneys or liver.