Inside the scary moment at the Chiefs facility when B.J. Thompson suffered a seizure
A day later, Chiefs defensive end B.J. Thompson is awake, responsive and fortunate his seizure happened where it did.
“Thank goodness,” Andy Reid said. “If that had to happen, no better place than right here where you have the support that knows what to do.”
The Chiefs addressed Thompson’s episode on Friday for the first time, and described an emergency that was addressed immediately.
“He’s awake and alert and and he’s coming through quite well,” Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said. “He’s headed in the absolute right direction. All things (that are) good in a little bit of a hairy situation.”
Burkholder supplied a timeline that started in a special teams meeting with Thompson, a fifth-round pick in 2023 who played in one game last season, suffering a seizure that caused him to go into cardiac arrest.
Kicker Harrison Butker ran to the trainer’s room and got assistant trainers Julie Frymyer and David Glover. Burholder and two more assistant trainers, Tiffany Morton and Evan Craft, arrived at the meeting room.
The Chiefs practice facility is adjoined by the University of Kansas Sports Medicine and Performance Center, and Dr. J.P Darche, a former football player, was quickly on the scene.
“As a team we tried to stabilize B.J. and put him on the floor while he was still seizing,” Burkholder said. “Then he went into cardiac arrest. Our team provided CPR. He had one AED shock and came back, so he was in cardiac arrest for a minute, minute and a half.”
Thompson was then turned over to the Kansas City Fire Department. He was taken to KU Medical Center and was on a ventilator overnight to help him breathe. Burkholder said he didn’t have a diagnosis.
The NFL mandates emergency action plans for all teams, and the Chiefs went through one on Monday, Burkholder said.
Reid was in his office when the emergency occurred. Practice was canceled and rescheduled for Friday.
“It’s phenomenal news that he’s stable and doing better today,” safety Justin Reid said. “Really credit to our staff for being on it.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 2:45 PM.