Two doctors from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center say ‘it’s awesome’ that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is ‘at that point that he can be cleared’ to return to football activities.

Hamlin’s return to the field is an inspiring story – as well as a testament to the progression of medical treatment. After suffering from cardiac arrest at a game in Cincinnati, Hamlin has made a full recovery and was cleared to return to football activities on Tuesday.

In an emotional press conference, Hamlin said that he ‘died on national TV’, but now he’s back with the rest of his team. Teammates – including Bills QB Josh Allen – praised Hamlin and said they were glad to see him back with the team.

On an episode of Good Morning America, the two doctors who were in charge of caring for Hamlin spoke about his immediate treatment and eventual recovery.

Trauma surgeon Dr. Tim Pritts and emergency medical physician Dr. Bill Knight spoke to Good Morning America about the process of treating Hamlin and how his condition developed.

‘Commotio cordis, as Damar noted yesterday, is a direct blunt trauma often to the front of the chest, which causes an interruption of the heart cycle, which is driven by electrical signals,’ Dr. Knight explained.

‘When that heart signal gets interrupted, it can stop beating and requires CPR and often electricity in the form of defibrillation to get started.

‘That’s what happened in this case is immediate bystander CPR and the electricity with the defibrillation to get the heart started again to get that blood flowing again.

When asked how dangerous Commotio cordis is, Dr. Knight explained that time is of the essence when it comes to cardiac incidents.

‘It is [dangerous] when you don’t have the medical teams or … people right there with you and ready to respond,’ said Dr. Knight.

‘Hopefully the push with what Damar has done with this new chapter in his life is getting that immediate bystander CPR, getting people trained to be able to do that.

‘Because you’re right, without that immediate bystander CPR, it’s deadly and people die. It’s the number one cause of death in young athletes.’

Dr. Pritts then explained how doctors at the medical center treated Hamlin once he arrived and was taken into their care.

‘His initial treatment was really on the field, and he had immediate bystander CPR from a highly talented team,’ Dr. Pritts explained. ‘He was then transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he was evaluated as a patient who had had traumatic injuries.

‘It’s an intense situation and one of our teammates describes it as like a car coming into the pits at the Indy 500.

‘There’s about 20 people involved, everybody has a role, and everybody is there to look out for the patient’s best interest and to help them eventually recover.’

GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos then asked the doctors if Hamlin was truly safe to return to practices – or if three months of recovery was too soon for him.

‘Credit really to the Bills’ amazing medical team. Is it too early? That’s really hard to tell,’ Dr. Knight said. ‘When athletes are cleared to return from injury, a lot of that has gone into a lot of the specifics of that injury to determine when they’re ready and when they’re safe.

‘When you speak to the potential of this particular injury, a lot of it is his physical fitness, his general health, and it speaks to the injury itself that the heart and his body has recovered and that he is ready and safe and cleared by his medical professionals to get out there and start working out again.

‘It’s awesome. It’s awesome that he’s at that point that he can be cleared to begin that next stage of his journey.’

Pritts said that it was gratifying to see that Hamlin is going back onto the field and trying to get his life back in order.

‘It’s amazing. Please note that Bill and I speak on behalf of more than 150 people who are directly involved in [Hamlin’s] care.

‘It takes that many people to take care of a seriously injured and ill patient in this setting. To see somebody return to life is just overwhelmingly gratifying. It’s so cool to see.’

Training camp begins at the end of July with full contact practices to follow shortly after things officially open.