Getty Buffalo Bills co-owners Terry and Kim Pegula speak to the crowd before a game.
The daughter of Buffalo Bills owner Kim Pegula has broken her silence on her mother’s health crisis, revealing that she suffered cardiac arrest at the family’s home in June 2022 and faces a long recovery.
Jessica Pegula opened up about her mother’s health crisis in an article published on February 7 in The Players Tribune, writing that her sister performed CPR after their mother was found unresponsive in bed in Florida.
The team had previously released statements on Kim Pegula’s health crisis but did not go far into detail, which led to some speculation and rumors among fans. Jessica Pegula provided more details and a look at the extensive recovery her mother now faces.
Jessica Pegula Opens Up on Mother’s Health
Jessica Pegula, who is currently the No. 4 ranked women’s tennis player in the world, wrote that she traveled back to the family’s home in Florida after competing in last year’s French Open. It was not long after she returned that her mother suffered a health emergency.
“A few days after I got home, I got a call around midnight (on my mom’s birthday) from my sister Kelly who was staying at my parents’ house,” Jessica Pegula wrote. “Something was wrong with our mom, and she was headed to the hospital in an ambulance.”
Pegula wrote that her mother was sleeping when her father, Bills’ co-owner Terry Pegula, awoke to find her unresponsive. It was then that Jessica’s sister, Kelly, jumped in to administer CPR while the family waited for paramedics to arrive.
“My sister gave her CPR until the ambulance arrived. She saved her life,” Jessica Pegula wrote. “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.”
“I am thankful she is still with us when other families may not have been so lucky. That she even had a chance at recovery when the first week in the hospital seemed so dim.”
@JLPegula details her mom Kim Pegula’s recovery from cardiac arrest:
Though Kim Pegula was able to survive the cardiac arrest, she suffered long-lasting effects and still has a long road ahead of her, Jessica Pegula added.
“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 wrote. “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.”
Bills Rallied Around Owner
Though the Bills did not give many details at the time immediately after Kim Pegula suffered cardiac arrest, the team did release a brief statement to ESPN’s Adam Schefter that read: “Kim Pegula is receiving medical care as a result of some unexpected health issues. We are very grateful for the progress she has made over the past few days. She has an exceptional team of medical experts at her side.”
Members of the Bills organizations rallied around Kim Pegula, with several players and coaches offering their support in the days and weeks after she first suffered cardiac arrest and the hospitalization that followed. Head coach Sean McDermott grew emotional when talking about the team’s owner.
“In my mind, they’re the best owners in the NFL,” McDermott said, per Bills Wire. “And I’m probably biased but that’s how I feel in my heart. I think if you look at what they’ve done for Western New York.”