'Did We Win?' Was Damar Hamlin's First Question Upon Waking Up

January 6, 2023

Damar Hamlin is awake in a Cincinnati hospital, appears neurologically intact and is moving his hands and feet, doctors said in a statement on Thursday.

Damar Hamlin via Instagram / @d.ham3

Hamlin isn’t speaking yet because he is still on a ventilator, but he can communicate by writing.

The first question he asked upon waking up was "Did we win?" according to Dr. Timothy Pritts at UC Health.

"Yes, Damar, you won. You've won the game of life," Pritts said at a news conference.

Hamlin has been communicating with yes and no answers by shaking his head, nodding or writing brief notes.

"So, we know that it's not only that the lights are on, we know that he's home. And that it appears all cylinders are firing within his brain," Pritts said.

"This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care," he said. "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."

Bills quarterback Josh Allen said he's excited to see Hamlin and "extremely happy for him and his family".

"We just want to, we just want to love up on him, so the next chance we get, I don’t know when it’s gonna be, if we get to see him any time soon, it’s gonna be awesome," Allen said.