Joe Biden says that he has spoken with the parents of stricken Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin who is recovering in hospital following his on-field cardiac arrest earlier this week.
The US president told reporters as he arrived back at the White House from Kentucky that he had spoken with Hamlin’s mother and father “at length” as their son remains in critical condition.
The 24-year-old Buffalo Bills player is being treated at a Cincinnati hospital after he made a hit on a Cincinnati Bengals player and collapsed during the game on Monday night.
Mr Biden was also asked during his trip if he thought professional football was too dangerous.
“Look, the idea that you’re gonna have, look you’ve got guys that are 6’8”, 340 pounds running a 4.8 40 ... If you hit somebody with that kinda ... now that’s not what happened here ... but I just think it’s, I don’t know how you avoid it,” Mr Biden said.
And he added: “I think working like hell on the helmets and the concussion protocols, that all makes a lot of sense. But … it is dangerous. We’ve got to just acknowledge it.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills tweeted that Hamlin, who had to be resuscitated, had shown “signs of improvement”.
“Damar remains in the ICU in critical condition with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight. He is expected to remain under intensive care as his health care team continues to monitor and treat him,” the Bills tweeted on Wednesday.
The team’s update came after Hamlin’s family also gave information on his condition and the treatment he had received.
Family friend Jordon Rooney said that the 24-year-old was only resuscitated once, despite earlier reports he was resuscitated twice following his collapse.
“Things are moving in a positive direction, what the doctors were looking to see I think they saw that,” Rooney said. “Things are moving in the right direction.
