How Damar Hamlin thinks about fear and his decision to return to NFL

Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest at a “Monday Night Football” game in January was a moment of national trauma that occurred on live television. His recovery from the near-death experience and his poise as a person ultimately inspired the nation. Still, his decision to play within the National Football League again after the private medical trauma he experienced left many wondering how he was in a position to find the courage to return.

In a recent interview on the CNBC CEO Council Summit, Hamlin — who participated in recent practices with the Bills after having been fully cleared to return to play in April— made clear that his decision to return to the NFL was never really unsure based on the approach he has all the time taken in life, and based on what football has all the time meant to him.

“Football’s all the time been my peace. It is often been my escape from the world. And that was type of like where I overcome my fears essentially the most in my life,” said Hamlin on the CNBC CEO event. 

Hamlin noted that he also reviewed statistics in making the choice. 

Hamlin experienced commotio cordis, a rare cardiac condition that happens when there’s blunt impact to the chest at the identical moment as the center is preparing to contract. If the physical blow hits during a narrow window in the center rhythm — a time period as transient as 20 to 40 milliseconds — it could disrupt the heartbeat and cause sudden cardiac arrest. There are fewer than 10 cases of commotio cordis per 12 months, based on the American Heart Association, and most cases occur in young male athletes, often in youth sports resembling baseball.   

Through the week of his return to Bills’ practices, players took CPR training. Hamlin has develop into a outstanding spokesman for heart health through a partnership with the American Heart Association, and a significant backer of efforts to provide more life-saving critical medical equipment and training in schools. With prompt CPR and defibrillation, the survival and recovery rates after a commotio cordis episode are greater than 50%, based on the AHA. Hamlin recently spoke on Capitol Hill in regards to the issue.

Doctors are confident that Hamlin is in adequate health to play football again, and it is rather rare for somebody to suffer from commotio cordis twice, or for survivors to be more prone to experience other heart-related issues, based on the American Heart Association. Commotio cordis just isn’t linked to underlying cardiac issues or heart disease.

Research conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital, in addition to quite a few other studies conducted all over the world, have found that one in 4 cardiac arrest survivors can develop major post-traumatic stress, which regularly leads them to avoid situations that may remind survivors of the health crisis.

Hamlin told CNBC he is targeted on the long run. “You realize, try to have a look at it as adversity and never a lot getting caught up in what happened. Attempting to be focused on the expansion from what happened, you realize, not kinda attempting to own the situation, just attempting to grow from it,” Hamlin said.  

Watch the complete video clip above from Hamlin’s interview with NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor on the CNBC CEO Council Summit to listen to the football player in his own words on what returning to the NFL means to him.