Months before Hamlin’s collapse, Bills’ co-owner also went into cardiac arrest

Jessica Pegula, the professional tennis player, has revealed for the first time details about the health of her mother, Kim Pegula, co-owner and president of the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, describing how she went into cardiac arrest last year and is still recovering.

In an essay published in The players’ stands on Tuesday Jessica Pegula said she wrote about it now because she wanted to be more open after Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during a game on Jan. 2. He was released from the hospital on January 11.

In her essay, titled “I want to talk to you about my mother,” Pegula, 28, said while at the Australian Open last month, she texted her husband about Mr Hamlin’s ordeal. “The situation with my mother,” she wrote in the essay, “weighed heavily on me.”

“When can we talk about it?” she wrote. “When can I tell her story, my story, my family’s story? Everyone keeps asking me. I really need to get it off me.”

Kim Pegula, 53, and her husband, Terry, purchased the Bills in 2014 from the estate of team founder Ralph Wilson. The pair paid $1.4 billion, then a record for an NFL franchise.

Terry Pegula, a billionaire businessman, made his fortune mainly from natural gas and real estate development. The Pegulas bought the Buffalo Sabers from the NHL in 2011, when Jessica turned 17.

That changed with Jessica Pegula’s essay in The Tribune.

“This is a story about my mother, my family and the past year,” she wrote.

It started in June, when Jessica Pegula flew back to Florida after playing at the French Open. Her sister Kelly called her around midnight and said their mother took an ambulance to the hospital after she went into cardiac arrest. Her sister had given her CPR until the ambulance arrived and the medics took over.

“She saved her life,” wrote Jessica Pegula.

Then came what she described as a “waiting game,” with months of uncertainty about the long-term effects on their mother’s health. After about a week, she was taken out of intensive care.

“She was aware, talked a little, but far from her normal self,” wrote Jessica Pegula.

Jessica Pegula, who is ranked fourth in the world, reluctantly set out to participate in Wimbledon. She had what she said had a “good few wins” amid the stress of her mother’s recovery, as she dealt with rumors that her mother had died and answered questions about her health.

“Today my mom is still recovering, and while it’s the same answer every time someone asks me, it’s true that she’s getting better every day,” Jessica Pegula wrote.

“She’s dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory problems,” she added, referring to a condition where people have trouble speaking full sentences or finding the words they’re looking for. “She can read, write and understand quite well, but she struggles to find the words to respond.”

Jessica Pegula said her mother was behind her father’s success.

“She jumped into this journey with him and learned many lessons along the way, breaking through many barriers,” wrote Jessica Pegula. “She was the shift in culture, positivity and the heartbeat of many of the employees. She gave everyone so much of her time and effort.”

“Now we’re coming to the realization that that’s probably all gone,” she wrote. “That she won’t be able to be that person anymore.”

At the Australian Open last month, Jessica Pegula wore a patch with Hamlin’s jersey number, 3. “Ironically, yes, I was ranked 3rd in the world,” she wrote. “It didn’t feel like it was just for him though, it felt like it was for my mom too.”

Jessica Pegula said when she learned what happened to Hamlin it was a “bizarre, confused, circular moment” given what her mother had also endured.

“Again, I don’t usually worry too much, but the thought of what Damar and his family were about to go through hurt my heart,” she wrote.

Jessica Pegula said her family had always been private, but her mother’s health anxiety had weighed heavily, creating a “massive void” in her family and in the Bills and Sabers organizations and a “harsh reality” for everyone else involved, including employees and fans. .

“I wanted to tell them all that you have no right to know what happened, but at the same time people wanted to know because they were scared,” she wrote. “Their leader, boss, friend, co-worker, all of them suddenly wouldn’t answer her phone or emails, and all her meetings were canceled.”

Kim Pegula is now home, her daughter writes. She gets to watch the tennis games of the Bills, the Sabers and Jessica. Jessica Pegula said her mother was doing better, but her prognosis was uncertain.

“Thank you to the Buffalo community for your patience,” she wrote. “I know you wanted answers and it took us a while to get there, but it finally felt like it was time.”