On Tuesday, the fourth-ranked female tennis player in the world, Jessica Pegula, revealed that her mother, Kim Pegula, co-owner and president of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, suffered brain damage and still has problems communicating following a cardiac arrest last year.
Kim Pegula (53), along with her husband, Terry Pegula, is one of the primary owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills (NFL). She also oversees the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, as well as the Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres of the American Hockey League, as president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the holding company that owns all of these teams.
Jessica, 28, wrote an article for The Players’ Tribune in which she discussed the challenges faced by her mother, her family, and the two professional sports teams.
“It felt like it was time. Thank you to Players Tribune for sharing this story,” Jessica wrote on her social media.
In June, Kim suffered a cardiac arrest while sleeping and had to be revived by her other daughter before paramedics came. Jessica thought her sister Kelly was the hero for doing CPR on their mom.
“My mom was asleep when my dad woke up to her going into cardiac arrest and she was unresponsive for quite a while. My sister gave her CPR until the ambulance arrived. She saved her life. Even though she doesn’t like to take credit for this terrible situation, she absolutely saved her life, followed by the critical job performed by the paramedics who arrived and were able to restore a heartbeat,” Jessica narrated.
“So here we are in the hospital. They figured out what was wrong, they fixed it, but the big question was how she would be when she woke up. Our concern had now moved from the cardiac arrest to a brain injury. Not to mention all the other issues that come with both of those events. Breathing, swallowing, preventing infections, there are so many things that can go wrong. The most frustrating thing about these types of injuries is that the outcome is unknown,” she continued.
Jessica said her mother is “dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues” following cardiac arrest.
“Today, my mom is still in recovery and although it is the same answer every time someone asks me, it is true, she is improving every day. She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues. She can read, write, and understand pretty well, but she has trouble finding the words to respond. It is hard to deal with and it takes a lot of patience to communicate with her, but I thank God every day that we can still communicate with her at all. The doctors continue to be blown away by her recovery, considering where she started, and her determination is the driving force of that,” Jessica said.
Jessica made the decision to write about her mother’s experience following Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac attack on the field during a game on January 2 in Cincinnati.
“It all started in Australia after the incident with Damar Hamlin. I texted my husband, Taylor, that the situation with my mom was weighing on me. When can we start talking about it? When can I tell her story, my story, my family’s story? Everyone just keeps asking me. I really need to get it off my chest,” Jessica wrote.
“Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during the Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. My stomach sunk because it felt like the exact same thing all over again. I was sitting on the bench for a tennis event in Sydney, Australia. I wanted to throw up. I was supposed to go on for mixed doubles in 15 minutes and I remember telling one of my teammates, “I am a little freaked out right now, this is too close to home, and I feel like I am going to have a panic attack,” she said.
“Again, I usually don’t get too much anxiety, but the thought of what Damar and his family were about to go through hurt my heart. I knew how important time was. I just kept thinking time, time, time, time. I hope they got him back and quick enough. The medical staff and trainers who assisted that night really saved his life and were tremendous in his recovery. I ended up going on for mixed doubles and we won,” she continued.
During The Australian Open, where she advanced to the quarterfinals, Pegula wore a No. 3 patch in tribute to Hamlin, per NFL.
