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us tennis star jessica pegula says her sister Kelly saved her mom’s life after she heart failure last year at his house.
in an article published in players’ tribune On Tuesday, Pegula opened up about his family’s “tough” year, which culminated in “some bizarre, messy, full circle moments” when Dummer Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch during an NFL game.
In June last year, reports surfaced Regarding Pegula’s mother, Kim — co-owner of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabers — is hospitalized.
Not much was known about her condition at the time, but Pegula detailed what happened and how her mom is recovering in a recent article.
“My mother was asleep when my father had a cardiac arrest and she was unresponsive for a long time,” Pegula said.
“My sister gave him CPR until the ambulance arrived. It saved his life. Even though she doesn’t like to take credit for this horrible situation, it absolutely saved his life, the vital work done by the paramedics that followed and the heart were able to restore the heartbeat.
Pegula’s mother has been a co-owner of the Bills since 2014, when she purchased the franchise with her husband, Terry, for over $1 billion.
The pair also own the Buffalo Sabers of the NHL, making Kim the first woman to be president of both an NFL and NHL team.
Pegula says her mom loved her job and was the engine room of the game empire, but she worries “she’ll never be that person anymore.”
“She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues,” Pegula said. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage to a specific area of the brain. Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“She can read, write and understand very well, but has trouble finding words to respond. It’s hard to deal with and it takes a lot of patience to communicate with her, but I thank God every day I hope we can still communicate with him.
“The doctors are blown away by her recovery, considering where she started, and her determination is the driving force behind that.”
The family practically lived in the hospital during the first two weeks of the recovery process, she says, with her father reluctant to go home without his wife.
The pressures of taking care of the family and running a successful business empire all took their toll, says Pegula.
“When they say a day in the hospital equals a week to recover, it is no joke. We were all exhausted mentally and physically.’
Focusing on her mother’s recovery, Pegula questioned whether she would be able to continue playing tennis at a high level.
But, inspired by her mother’s approach to life, she decided to play at Wimbledon just weeks after her mother’s cardiac arrest, reaching the third round.
She reached the quarterfinals of the US Open before ending the year as the women’s singles world No. 3.
“I guess one thing I’ve learned from last year is that it can be a good year, and a bad year, both can be true,” she said.
With her mother recovering at home, Pegula shifted her focus to tennis and she flew out to compete at the Australian Open at the start of the year.
However, he got the news even before the Grand Slam started. Bills player hamlin He had suffered a cardiac arrest and was fighting for his life in the hospital.
Pegula, who was minutes away from playing in a mixed doubles event in Sydney, says her “stomach dropped” when she heard what had happened.
“I don’t usually worry too much, but thinking about what Dahmer and her family were going through, it breaks my heart,” she said, as she was close to having a panic attack.
“I knew how important timing was. I just kept thinking time, time, time, time. I hope they get him back and soon enough.
“The medical staff and trainers who assisted that night truly saved his life and were tremendous in his recovery. I ended up playing for the mixed doubles and we won.”
Hamlin, 24, survived and, like Kim, faces a long recovery process.
Pegula says her incredible recovery was what inspired her performance at the Australian Open where she reached the quarterfinals.
She wore Hamlin’s number three on her shorts during tournaments but says it was also in honor of her mother.
“It’s been a tough year, but at the same time, I feel lucky and blessed,” she said.
“I am grateful that he is still with us when other families may not have been so lucky. That there was even a chance for his recovery when the first week in the hospital seemed so bleak.
“Thank you to the doctors who assisted in his recovery. Thankfully he’s home now that he gets to watch the Bills, Sabers and my tennis matches.
“She never watched my matches before because she was too nervous. Now, she watches them all.