NFL Star Damar Hamlin Finds 'Closure' On Return To Cardiac Arrest Scene

Damar Hamlin got nostalgic on his return to the same stadium where he suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this year.

The comeback, which occurred when the Buffalo Bills played the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium over the weekend, saw the safety spending some alone — and emotional — time at the exact spot of the incident.

Fans would recall that Hamlin had to be resuscitated after he collapsed on the field during a Week 17 Monday Night Football game against the Bengals on January 2. He has since established a scholarship program for Cincinnati youths to honor the ten first responders, nurses, and doctors who helped save his life.

Although Hamlin didn't participate in Sunday's game, having played only one game for the Bills this season, he was more than happy to be back at Paycor Stadium. The attendance seemingly offered him a sense of closure, as is evident in footage shared by Olivia Ray, a sports reporter who covers news about the Bengals and FC Cincinnati.

In the clip, the NFL star is seen crouching on the field with his head bent for over ten seconds. He then got up, with his phone in his hand, and walked away from the scene of his cardiac arrest.

He notably kept his face shielded from the cameras, the press, and other onlookers by pulling down the hoodie of his blue hooded Bills uniform. As the 46-second video came to an end, the fashion entrepreneur brought his phone out of his pocket to place a call.

It was then he briefly looked up, revealing what looked like red, swollen eyes, before proceeding to show the female on his Facetime screen his surroundings. Ray's caption above the heartwrenching video uploaded via X read:

"Damar Hamlin is alone on the field at Paycor Stadium postgame. An emotional scene as Hamlin spends nearly 15 minutes at the logo in Cincinnati."

Within 24 hours of the post, the clip has earned nearly five million views, with thousands of likes and hundreds of replies. A look at the replies disclosed fans' support for Hamlin's actions, with one person writing, "I watched the whole thing here on TV and made me want to cry, such a sad story but with a happy ending cause it could have been worse." 

A second fan stated, "Man he deserves this so bad. Happy to see him here. Must've been so surreal," as a third offered this insight, "Like it or hate it, if you were watching the game you literally watch a guy die on live TV. To stand in the spot where you died has to be a little emotional."

"It felt cathartic as a fan today just to be able to mentally move past what happened last year so I can only imagine how he felt returning to the place where his life changed forever. Hope it was cathartic for him as well??," a fourth fan typed.

Fans had been equally hyped when Hamlin himself declared his return to the sport after being medically cleared months after the incident. As reported by The Blast, he'd taken to social media to express, "This event was life-changing, but it's not the end of my story. I'm here to announce that I plan on returning to the NFL."

The NFL star then officially registered his return to the field during the pre-season and his performance earned him the respect of fans and fellow players as he recorded three solo tackles and contributed to the team's 23-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Last month, the 25-year-old was forced to relive the painful event when his teammate, Damien Harris, was taken off the field on a stretcher. The running back had suffered a neck injury during the first half of the Week 6 game against the New York Giants.

Due to a clip of the moment showing up online, viewers got a glimpse of Hamlin's visible emotional reaction to the event as Harris was wheeled away. Giving a summary of the clip's content, the X poster wrote in the caption: 

"Damar Hamlin with all the real, deep emotions about what he went through back on January 2, with his Bills teammate Damien Harris on the ground, in the latest frightening #NFL injury ?."

It was later revealed that the 26-year-old, who has since been discharged from the hospital, sustained his injury during a third-and-1 carry in the second quarter when he received a hit to the neck area from New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke.