“I want to talk to you about my mom.”
Jessica Pegula and her family have decided that this time is the right time to share what happened to her mother, Kim Pegula, last June.
In an essay published this morning on The Players’ Tribune website, Jessica revealed that her mother, the team president and co-owner of the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, suffered cardiac arrest last June, on or near her 53rd birthday. Her recovery has been difficult, marked by “significant expressive aphasia” – speech difficulties caused by brain damage – “and significant memory issues.”
The essay also suggests it is unlikely Kim Pegula will return to her day-to-day role with the teams.
At the time of the medical emergency, and in the eight months since, the Pegula family revealed only that Kim was experiencing “health issues” and was in recovery, and declined to comment further.
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That changed this morning with those words – “I want to talk to you about my mother” – which headlined an essay by Jessica Pegula, one of the world’s top tennis players, published on The Players’ Tribune website.
“This is a story about my mother, my family, and the past year,” Jessica writes. “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 (Kelly Pegula) gave her CPR until the ambulance arrived. … She absolutely saved her life, followed by the critical job performed by the paramedics who arrived and were able to restore a heartbeat.”
At the hospital, doctors were able to handle the cardiac condition.
“But the big question was how she would be when she woke up,” Jessica writes. “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.”
Kim Pegula was in the hospital for the next two weeks, moving out of the ICU after the first week. Her recovery today continues at home.
“She is improving every day,” Jessica writes. “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.”
Jessica acknowledges in the essay that her mom “loved to work,” but that her role as the day-to-day leader of the family’s sports teams – as the person who “lived it and loved it” – is “most likely gone. That she won’t be able to be that person anymore.”
The essay concludes with a thank you to the community of Buffalo “for your patience.”
Jessica continued: “I know you have wanted answers and it took us a while to get there but it finally felt like it was time. Thank you to everyone who has respected privacy and shown me and my family tremendous support throughout this ongoing journey.”
