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Entertainment

Cindy Williams, ‘Laverne & Shirley’ star, dead at 75

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CNN
 — 

Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a representative. She was 75.

Williams died after a short illness, said the statement from her children Zak and Emily Hudson, provided to CNN by family spokesperson and Williams’ personal assistant Liz Cranis.

“The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed,” their statement read. “Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved.”

Williams had credits spanning six decades, but it was her role on “Happy Days” spin-off “Laverne & Shirley” that endeared her to millions and made her a household name.

On the series, she starred opposite the late Penny Marshall as one half of a dynamic friend duo whose adventures powered the show, which ran for eight seasons from 1976-1983.

Born in Van Nuys, California, Williams’ interest in acting throughout high school led her to studying theater at Los Angeles City College, according to a biography provided by her family. Some of Williams’ first professional acting credits include a three-episode arc on the 1969 series “Room 222” and appearances on other shows, like “Nanny and the Professor” and “Love, American Style,” in the early 1970’s.

Williams went on to become a prolific working television and film actor, appearing in dozens of titles. But it was after she first appeared as Shirley Feeney on “Happy Days” in 1975 that her career began to take shape.

The lighthearted “Laverne & Shirley” proved to be a ratings hit and earned six Golden Globe nominations, including two for best comedy series and one for Williams in the best actress in a comedy category.

Williams also appeared in several standout films. Most notably, she starred in George Lucas’ 1973 film “American Graffiti,” which earned Williams a British Academy Film Awards nomination for best supporting actress. The film, about a group of friends who spend one wild night together before leaving for college, went on to be nominated for five Oscars, including best picture, at the 1974 Academy Awards. Williams also had roles in acclaimed films “Travels with My Aunt” by George Cukor’ in 1972 and “The Conversation” from director Francis Ford Coppola in 1974.

Williams was also an accomplished stage actress, with a long list of credits. Last year, she took her one-woman show, “Me, Myself and Shirley,” where she shared stories from throughout her career, on a national tour. She had at least one series of dates scheduled for later this year.

Upon news of her passing, Williams’ friends and fans took to social media to honor the late actress, who left a legacy of laughter.

“Happy Days” star and film director Ron Howard tweeted that Williams’ “unpretentious intelligence, talent, wit & humanity impacted every character she created & person she worked with,” going on to say that the pair worked together on six different projects together. “Lucky me,” he added.

Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie on “Happy Days,” called Williams “a fine and talented human being” on Twitter.

“Oh how I loved Cindy Williams,” Yvette Nicole Brown, who worked with Williams in 2016 when she guest starred in an episode of CBS’s “The Odd Couple,” shared on Twitter. “She was as lovely as I always imagined she’d be.”

Actor Jason Alexander wrote on Twitter: “I did not know Cindy Williams but boy did I adore her work, especially the wacky joyful funny pleasure of watching her Laverne and Shirley days. I pray she had a good life and send my sympathy to those who knew and loved her.”

Williams’ children added in their statement that they were proud of their mother for many reasons – “her lifelong mission to rescue animals, her prolific artistry, her faith” among them – but “most of all, her ability to make the world laugh!”

“May that laughter continue in everyone, because she would want that,” the statement said. “Thank you for loving our Mom, she loved you too.”



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Health

Surgeon General says 13 is ‘too early’ to join social media

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CNN
 — 

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says he believes 13 is too young for children to be on social media platforms, because although sites allow children of that age to join, kids are still “developing their identity.”

Meta, Twitter, and a host of other social media giants currently allow 13-year-olds to join their platforms.

“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early … It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children,” Murthy said on “CNN Newsroom.”

The number of teenagers on social media has sparked alarm among medical professionals, who point to a growing body of research about the harm such platforms can cause adolescents.

Murthy acknowledged the difficulties of keeping children off these platforms given their popularity, but suggested parents can find success by presenting a united front.

“If parents can band together and say you know, as a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18 or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” he told CNN.

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New research suggests habitually checking social media can alter the brain chemistry of adolescents.

According to a study published this month in JAMA Pediatrics, students who checked social media more regularly displayed greater neural sensitivity in certain parts of their brains, making their brains more sensitive to social consequences over time.

Psychiatrists like Dr. Adriana Stacey have pointed to this phenomenon for years. Stacey, who works primarily with teenagers and college students, previously told CNN using social media releases a “dopamine dump” in the brain.

“When we do things that are addictive like use cocaine or use smartphones, our brains release a lot of dopamine at once. It tells our brains to keep using that,” she said. “For teenagers in particular, this part of their brain is actually hyperactive compared to adults. They can’t get motivated to do anything else.”

Recent studies demonstrate other ways excessive screen time can impact brain development. In young children, for example, excessive screen time was significantly associated with poorer emerging literacy skills and ability to use expressive language.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who recently published an op-ed in the Bulwark about loneliness and mental health, echoed the surgeon general’s concerns about social media. “We have lost something as a society, as so much of our life has turned into screen-to-screen communication, it just doesn’t give you the same sense of value and the same sense of satisfaction as talking to somebody or seeing someone,” Murphy told CNN in an interview alongside Murthy.

For both Murphy and Murthy, the issue of social media addiction is personal. Both men are fathers – Murphy to teenagers and Murthy to young children. “It’s not coincidental that Dr. Murthy and I are probably talking more about this issue of loneliness more than others in public life,” Murphy told CNN. “I look at this through the prism of my 14-year-old and my 11-year-old.”

As a country, Murphy explained, the U.S. is not powerless in the face of Big Tech. Lawmakers could make different decisions about limiting young kids from social media and incentivizing companies to make algorithms less addictive.

The surgeon general similarly addressed addictive algorithms, explaining pitting adolescents against Big Tech is “just not a fair fight.” He told CNN, “You have some of the best designers and product developers in the world who have designed these products to make sure people are maximizing the amount of time they spend on these platforms. And if we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you’re spending, you’re pitting a child against the world’s greatest product designers.”

Despite the hurdles facing parents and kids, Murphy struck a note of optimism about the future of social media.

“None of this is out of our control. When we had dangerous vehicles on the road, we passed laws to make those vehicles less dangerous,” he told CNN. “We should make decisions to make [social media] a healthier experience that would make kids feel better about themselves and less alone.”

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Technology

In Japan, pet fish playing Nintendo Switch run up bill on owner’s credit card

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CNN
 — 

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Pet fish playing a video game in Japan managed to log on to the Nintendo Switch store, change their owner’s avatar, set up a Pay Pal account and rack up a credit card bill.

And it was all seemingly livestreamed, in real time, on the internet.

The fish in question belong to a YouTuber known as Mutekimaru, whose channel is popular with the gaming community for its videos featuring groups of tetra fish that “play” video games.

Mutekimaru had previously installed sophisticated motion detection tracking software in fish tanks, enabling the fish to remotely control a Nintendo Switch console.

But the technology, and the fishes’ apparent mastery of it, led to an unexpected turn of events earlier this month while Mutekimaru was live-streaming a game of Pokémon.

Mutekimaru had stepped away for a break when the game crashed due to a system error and the console returned to the home screen.

But the fish carried on swimming, like fish tend to do, and seemingly continued to control the console remotely from their tank.

During the next seven hours, the fish reportedly managed to change the name of their owner’s Switch account before twice logging into the Nintendo store, where users can purchase games and other downloadable content.

They also managed to “check” legal terms and conditions, downloaded a new avatar and even set up a PayPal account from the Switch – sending an email out to their owner in the process, video from the livestream appeared to show.

But things didn’t end there. The fish were also seen adding 500 yen ($4) to Mutekimaru’s Switch account from his credit card during the livestream – exposing his credit card details in the process, the YouTuber revealed in a follow-up video about the episode.

By this point, thousands of comments were streaming in as viewers watched the unintended takeover being livestreamed on the channel, and the incident went viral on Twitter, where thousands of Japanese users shared their amusement.

Mutekimaru later said that he had contacted Nintendo to explain what happened and asked for a refund of his 500 yen.

Nintendo declined to comment to CNN, citing customer confidentiality.



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Business

Elon Musk meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Hakeem Jeffries

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CNN
 — 

Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the US Capitol in Washington on Thursday evening.

McCarthy, leaving the meeting with Musk in his office, declined to comment other than to say: “He came for my birthday.” The California Republican turned 58 on Thursday.

After the meeting, Musk wrote on Twitter that he met with McCarthy and Jeffries “to discuss ensuring that this platform is fair to both parties.”

The meeting between Musk and congressional leaders comes as the House Oversight Committee is planning to hold a hearing next month focused on Twitter and how it handled a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The House GOP conference members have promised rigorous oversight into big tech and social media platforms, which they have accused of conservative censorship.

The panel invited three former Twitter employees to testify, and is in active discussions with the trio about appearing in front of the committee, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The committee is looking at February 8 as a potential target date for the hearing, the sources said.

The manner in which Twitter handled the Hunter Biden laptop story has been the subject of several so-called Twitter Files reports, corporate communications that have been disseminated to journalists hand-picked by Musk and his team at Twitter. The Twitter Files have shown the company’s moderation team agonized over how to handle initial stories about the saga. Although early news reports were blocked or downplayed, the company quickly reversed course and allowed them to be posted and discussed on the platform.

Musk has developed a reputation as a polarizing figure in the tech industry and for his political views. He has frequently weighed in publicly on US policy and the political landscape in recent months. Musk has said that he has voted for Democrats and Republicans in the past but has recently favored conservatives and says he identifies as Republican.

The meeting comes amid a political power shift in Washington after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January and elected McCarthy as speaker.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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World

Indonesia: Warning issued over ‘dragon’s breath’ viral video trend

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CNN
 — 

Indonesia is warning people against consuming liquid nitrogen after more than 20 children were harmed eating a street snack known as “dragon’s breath” that’s at the center of a dangerous new viral video trend.

The children suffered burns to their skin, severe stomach pains and food poisoning after consuming the colorful candies, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, which is urging parents, teachers and local health authorities to be vigilant.

The candies are dipped in liquid nitrogen to create a vapor effect when eaten. They are popular with children, dozens of whom have uploaded clips to short-form video app TikTok showing them blowing the fumes out of their mouths, noses and ears. One video showing the preparation of the snack by a street vendor has been viewed close to 10 million times.

Around 25 children have been hurt consuming the candies, including two who were hospitalized, said the ministry’s director general Maxi Rein Rondonuwu. No deaths have been reported.

Using liquid nitrogen in food preparation is not illegal. Top chefs often use the vapors to create theatrical effects when serving dishes. It is clear, colorless and odorless, and commonly used in medical settings and as an ingredient to freeze food.

However, when not used properly, it can be hazardous.

”Liquid nitrogen is not only dangerous when consumed, it can cause severe breathing difficulties from nitrogen fumes that are inhaled over a long time,” Maxi said.

The first case was reported in July 2022, according to the ministry, when a child from a village in the Ponorogo Regency in East Java suffered cold burns on his skin after eating the snack.

More cases were reported in November and December, including a 4-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital in the capital Jakarta with severe stomach pain.

“Schools must educate children in the community about the dangers of liquid nitrogen in food (to) prevent more cases of severe food poisoning,” Maxi said.

– Source:
HLN
” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”:{“uri”:”https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/180811080208-dragon-breath.jpg?q=x_86,y_251,h_663,w_1179,c_crop/h_540,w_960″},”small”:{“uri”:”https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/180811080208-dragon-breath.jpg?q=x_86,y_251,h_663,w_1179,c_crop/h_540,w_960″}}” data-vr-video=”” data-show-name=”Weekend Express” data-show-url=”https://www.cnn.com/shows/weekend-express” data-check-event-based-preview=”” data-network-id=”” data-details=””>

New liquid nitrogen cereal sparks controversy

In 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued safety alerts warning that serious injury could result from eating foods like ice cream, cereal or cocktails prepared with liquid nitrogen.

“Injuries have occurred from handling or eating products prepared by adding liquid nitrogen immediately before consumption, even after the liquid nitrogen has fully evaporated due to the extremely low temperature of the food,” the FDA said.

“This is a hazardous chemical compound,” said Clarence Yeo, a Singapore-based doctor. “It irritates the stomach and can cause burns in the mouth and esophagus. Children would be especially sensitive to (its effects) if it is eaten in large amounts.”

Yeo warned he “wouldn’t advise anyone to eat it.”

“You could end up in hospital and the worst case scenario could be organ damage,” he said.

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World

Brovary, Ukraine: Helicopter crash kills 16, including Ukrainian interior minister

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CNN
 — 

A helicopter crash near a kindergarten in the Kyiv region has killed at least 16 people, including the leadership team of Ukraine’s interior ministry who were traveling on the aircraft and three children on the ground, according to officials.

At least 30 others, including 12 children, are in the hospital following the incident in the city of Brovary on Wednesday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration.

Tymoshenko has revised down the number of people killed in the crash on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital – the previous death toll was 18.

Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, First Deputy Minister Yevheniy Yenin and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis died, Anton Geraschenko, a ministry adviser, confirmed on social media.

All nine people onboard the helicopter (six ministry officials and three crew members) were killed, leaving another seven dead on the ground, including three children, Tymoshenko said. A search and rescue operation is continuing, he added.

The Ukrainian Security Services, the SBU, has launched an investigation into the crash, and posted on Facebook that “several versions of the tragedy are being considered.”

They include: “violation of flight rule, technical malfunction of the helicopter (and) deliberate actions to destroy the helicopter.”

There has been no suggestion from any other Ukrainian officials about Russian involvement in this crash. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the incident as a “tragedy.”

A CNN team on the ground in the Kyiv region noted gray skies and very low visibility.

The helicopter that crashed was a Eurocopter EC225 “Super Puma,” the CNN crew confirmed after seeing remnants of flight manuals among the debris.

The State Emergency Services of Ukraine (SES) said that this helicopter “was repeatedly involved in the transportation of personnel to emergency sites.”

An SES statement posted on Facebook added: “The crew of the aircraft was trained to perform tasks in difficult conditions and had the required number of hours of flying time.”

It landed near a kindergarten and a residential building, Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said earlier.

“At the time of the tragedy, there were children and the staff in the kindergarten. At the moment, everyone was evacuated,” he wrote on Telegram.

Paramedics, the police and firefighters are responding at the scene, Kuleba added.

In a written statement, President Zelensky called the crash “a terrible tragedy,” adding that he has ordered the Ukrainian Security Services to “to find out all the circumstances.”

Zelensky ended his statement by saying the interior ministry officials were “true patriots of Ukraine. May they rest in peace! May all those whose lives were taken this black morning rest in peace!”

The officials are thought to be the most senior government figures to have died since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.

Monastyrsky, 42, was a lawyer by training. According to a biography published on the ministry’s website, he spent some years teaching law and management at a university in his home town of Khmelnytskyi, before deciding to turn “from theory to practice” and become involved in politics.

He worked on reforming Ukrainian law enforcement following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, rose through the ranks and was appointed interior minister in July 2021.

Last year, Monastyrsky accompanied a CNN crew on a visit to abandoned Russian military positions in Chernobyl.

News of Monastyrsky’s death sparked a wave of reactions from many of his counterparts and other foreign leaders.

“Saddened by the tragic death of the Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky. Thoughts for all the victims of this terrible event that occurred near a kindergarten, for the children and the families,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described Monastyrsky as “a true friend of the UK.”

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, also paid tribute to Monastyrsky as “a great friend of the EU.” Michel tweeted that the European Union joins Ukraine “in grief following the tragic helicopter accident in Brovary.”

Yenin, also 42, served as Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor general and deputy minister of foreign affairs before becoming Monastyrsky’s first deputy in September 2021, according to the ministry’s website.

Lubkovychis was 33 and, like the other two men, was also appointed to the ministry in 2021.

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Business

Twitter’s laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit, judge says

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Twitter

(TWTR) has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration rather than a class-action lawsuit.

US District Judge James Donato on Friday ruled that five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before laying them off after its acquisition by Elon Musk must pursue their claims in private arbitration.

Donato granted Twitter’s request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The San Francisco judge left for another day “as warranted by developments in the case” whether the entire class action lawsuit must be dismissed, though, as he noted three other former Twitter employees who alleged they had opted out of the company’s arbitration agreement have joined the lawsuit after it was first filed.

The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file hundreds more.

Those workers all claim they have not received the full severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over. Some have also alleged sex or disability discrimination.

Last year, Donato had ruled that Twitter must notify the thousands of workers who were laid off after its acquisition by Musk following a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before terminating them.

The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them “a succinct and plainly worded notice.”

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.

In December last year, Twitter was also accused by dozens of former employees of various legal violations stemming from Musk’s takeover of the company, including targeting women for layoffs and failing to pay promised severance.

Twitter is also facing at least three complaints filed with a US labor board claiming workers were fired for criticizing the company, attempting to organize a strike, and other conduct protected by federal labor law.

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US

Lynette Hardaway, of pro-Trump duo Diamond and Silk, has died

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CNN
 — 

Lynette Hardaway, a pro-Donald Trump social media personality and part of the duo most commonly known as “Diamond & Silk,” has died, according to the pair’s official social media accounts.

The official Diamond and Silk Facebook account announced the death in a post on Monday, and similar announcements were posted to the pair’s official Instagram and Twitter accounts. No additional details on the cause of death were provided. Hardaway, known as “Diamond,” was 51 at the time of her death, according to The New York Times.

“The World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity! Diamond blazed a trail, founded on her passion and love for the entire race of humanity. In this time of grief, please respect the privacy of Diamond’s family but remember and celebrate the gift that she gave us all! Memorial Ceremony to be announced soon,” the duo’s official Facebook post read.

Hardaway, along with her sister Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, drew national attention as staunch conservative media personalities and backers of Trump.

“Trump is not a racist,” Hardaway insisted in a 2018 appearance on Fox & Friends. “He is a realist. And the only color he sees is green and he wants you to have the money.”

The former president announced Hardaway’s death on his Truth Social platform Monday night, writing that it was “really bad news for Republicans and frankly, ALL Americans.” Hardaway died at her home in North Carolina and Richardson “was with her all the way, and at her passing,” Trump said.

The former president often met the pair’s support with his own, shouting them out at times during his presidential campaign rallies in 2016 and inviting them to his inauguration in 2017. They became fixtures around the Trump White House, attending a Black History Month event there in 2020.

The pair leveraged their relationship with Trump into hosting their own show on Fox’s streaming service, Fox Nation, shortly after it launched in 2018. But Fox decided to part ways with the two women in April 2020 after they had made a series of false and misleading statements about how to combat Covid-19.

When news of their release from Fox went public, Trump again came to their rescue, writing in a tweet at the time: “But I love Diamond & Silk, and so do millions of people!”

This story has been updated with additional details.



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Sports

Damar Hamlin tweets his thanks after he moves from Cincinnati to Buffalo hospital 7 days after collapse

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CNN
 — 

Damar Hamlin was released from the hospital on Monday, a week after the Buffalo Bills safety’s heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated on the field during an NFL game, Dr. William A. Knight said Monday during a video news conference.

Knight said he went with Hamlin to the airport, where he took a flight to Buffalo. Hamlin is in a hospital there, the doctor from the UC Medical Center in Cincinnati said.

“He is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery,” Knight said. “It is entirely too premature to discuss, not only his football; it’s that we’re really focused on his day-to-day recovery.”

Knight said Hamlin met “a number of key milestones” in his recovery, noting the NFL player was up and walking, doing physical and occupational therapy.

“Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!” Hamlin tweeted Monday afternoon.

In another tweet, he thanked the public for their support.

“Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling,” he wrote. “The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more. Bigger than football!”

Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on a Zoom call with reporters that he was “super excited” to have Hamlin back in town.

He said he and some members of the Bills’ organization went to see Hamlin at the hospital in Buffalo.

“He’s doing well,” he said. “He’s just tired but he seems happy and happy to be back in Buffalo.”

On January 2, Hamlin, a 24-year-old defensive player in his second NFL season, suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

His UC doctors said Monday it’s still too early to know what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest and expect he will undergo more tests to determine what happened.

The Bills player on Sunday posted a photo of himself on social media that shows him sitting up in his hospital bed and making a heart sign with his hands while wearing a number 3 hat and a “Love for Damar” shirt.

Hamlin tweeted more than a dozen times reacting to the Bills 35-22 win over the New England Patriots Sunday, and expressed his desire to be out on the field with his teammates.

“It’s GameDay & There’s Nothing I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers,” he wrote.

Hamlin also watched from his hospital bed Sunday as teams across the NFL honored him during the last games of the regular season, with players, coaches and fans expressing their support with T-shirts, signs and jersey patches featuring his name and his number 3.

At the Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, several of Hamlin’s teammates took the field waving flags with his name and jersey number while many in the audience raised heart-shaped signs to pay tribute to the football player.

The day before, the Bills tweeted that Hamlin continues to breathe on his own and his neurological function is excellent, but he was still in critical condition, citing his doctors.

Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle during the first quarter of the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals last Monday night. He was rushed from the field in an ambulance, leaving players crying and embracing, and unleashing an outpouring of support from fans and others across the country.

The game was initially postponed, then later canceled by the NFL.

Before Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Bengals, the medical staff who rushed to Hamlin’s aid were honored at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium – the same field where Hamlin suffered the cardiac arrest.

At New York’s Highmark Stadium, Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown gave a game ball to assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington, the man credited with saving Hamlin’s life by administering critical CPR to the football player – who doctors say lost his pulse on the field had to be immediately revived through resuscitation and defibrillation.

The immediate response of Kellington and other medical personnel was vital to “not just saving his life, but his neurological function,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, one of Hamlin’s doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, has said.

Hamlin was sedated after being taken to the hospital. Doctors announced Thursday that he had started to awaken and he appears neurologically intact, while still critically ill and on a ventilator.

“Did we win?” was Hamlin’s first question upon awakening, according to Pritts, who said he scribbled the question on a clipboard.

On Friday, the Bills said Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed overnight and he had spoken to his teammates via video.

Following the victory over the Patriots on Sunday, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White said Hamlin texted members of the team prior to Sunday’s game, saying, “I’m thinking about y’all, I’m sorry that I did that to y’all.”

“For him to check on us when he is the person that’s going through what he’s going through – that just shows what type of person he is.”

White said incident Monday’s incident still haunts the six-year NFL veteran.

“To see everything transpire, from the hit, to him getting up, to him falling, to everything – it’s just something that I can’t … unsee. Every time I close my eyes it replays. I tried watching tv and every time the tv goes to commercial, that’s the only thing that comes to my mind,” White said.

During Sunday’s Bills game, the public address announcer read a statement of support for Hamlin and received a roar from the crowd, which included fans in a sea of blue and red who held up signs of support for Hamlin saying “BILLI3VE,” “All the heart for #3,” “Love for Damar,” “Did we win” and “Thank You Medical Staff!”

Several of Hamlin’s teammates, including Josh Allen and Kaiir Elam, took the field waving flags with Hamlin’s name and jersey No. 3.

Then the game began with a bang.

Bills returner Nyhiem Hines took the opening kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown, sending the crowd into euphoria and prompted Hamlin to tweet, “OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hines said the team needed this win after the events of the past week.

“As a community, I feel like we needed this win. I feel like my brothers in that locker room, we needed some great energy and some great vibes. And we had to win this,” Hines said.

Other teams around the league also paid tribute to Hamlin Sunday.

In Cincinnati, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who was involved in the play where Hamlin was injured, wore a “Love for Damar” t-shirt during pregame warmups.

Prior to the start of the game, the stadium’s announcer read a statement that asked fans for a moment of support for Hamlin, his family and the first responders.

The fans in Cincinnati, many with signs supporting Hamlin, cheered loudly. The television broadcast also showed Bengals coach Zac Taylor wearing a “Love for Damar” hoodie during the tribute.

Ahead of the Chargers-Broncos game, Broncos Quarterback Russell Wilson and Chargers safety Derwin James met at midfield, both wearing No. 3, and led a moment of support for Hamlin.



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