Damar Hamlin's first written note after awaking: 'Did we win?'

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been communicating with hospital staff and his family by writing notes on paper, physicians said Thursday, since his breathing tube prevents him from speaking. What was his first note, written to a bedside nurse when he awoke on Wednesday?

"Did we win?"

Physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center gave updates Thursday about Hamlin's medical condition and progress after he suffered a cardiac arrest while the Bills played the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday.

Dr. Timothy Pritts, a UC Health physician, said Hamlin's question about the outcome of the Bills and Bengals game shows that "not only are the lights on, but he's home."

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"We said, 'Yes, Damar. You won the game of life,'" Pritts said.

Pritts and Dr. William Knight IV, director of the emergency medicine program, said Hamlin has been writing notes to communicate with his parents, who told him about the outpouring of support across the nation.

Pritts said Hamlin has shown "substantial improvement in the last 24 hours," but remains "critically ill" in hospital's intensive care unit. All of the 24-year-old's improvements point to recovery, Pritts added. He's begun to move his hands and feet, and has no cardiac dysfunction or neurological dysfunction.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Doctors: Damar Hamlin communicating by pen and paper after injury