Update: Doctors received “promising readings” overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, according to ESPN, which cites Hamlin’s family friend. Hamlin reportedly still has a “long way to go.”
Damar Hamlin is still in critical condition, but his uncle is hopeful that his nephew will pull through and expressed his gratitude that Hamlin is still alive and fighting.
“They sedated him just to give a better chance for him to just continue to heal better. We are just taking it day by day. It seems like he’s trending upwards in a positive way,” Dorrian Glenn told CNN outside of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Tuesday night.
Glenn revealed that doctors have Hamlin “flipped over on his stomach” in order to take pressure off of his lungs. In that position, they won’t have to work as hard, which is critical as the next step in Hamlin’s road to recovery is for him to breathe on his own, CNN reported.
CNN’s @abroaddus talks to Damar Hamlin’s uncle Dorrian Glenn about the moment he saw his nephew collapse during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. https://t.co/TIBnV3RyHs
— CNN (@CNN) January 4, 2023
Hamlin, 24, collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin was taken to the hospital by ambulance from the field and placed in the intensive care unit where he remains sedated and ventilated, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Heart Specialists Think Hamlin Injury Could Literally Have Just Been Bad Timing)
Glenn told CNN he witnessed his nephew’s collapse as he watched the game from Pittsburgh with Hamlin’s younger brother. “I’m not a crier, but I’ve never cried so hard in my life. Just to know, like, my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back to life,” he told the outlet.
Glenn also told the outlet that Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice — once on the field, and once again at the hospital. “I just want to show my gratitude for the medical staff that were on hand because if not for them my nephew probably wouldn’t even be here,” he told CNN.