‘I Wanted to Throw Up..’ – American Tennis Star Jessica Pegula Reveals How Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin’s Collapse Freaked Her Out

The 24-year-old Buffalo Bills icon Damar Hamlin put the sports world at a standstill after he suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of a match. But sitting miles away from him, the daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, the American WTA star Jessica Pegula, was freaking out. Her parents are the co-owners of the Buffalo Bills franchise and recently Pegula shared why Hamlin’s cardiac arrest episode hit her so hard.

In her recent column for The Players Tribune, the current world no.4 talks about an incident that shook their family last year. After her remarkable performance in the French Open, she came back home and her life turned around. The Pegula family was not prepared to wake up to their beloved mother Kim going into cardiac arrest. Kim’s distressing health condition had a traumatic effect on her family. So much so, that months later, when Hamlin suffered a similar fate, the tennis star shuddered to think about him.

Jessica Pegula recounts the horror of watching someone have a cardiac arrest

Talking about when the news of Hamlin reached her, Jessica Pegula writes in The Players Tribune, “Then in January we came to some bizarre, messed-up, full circle moment. Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during the Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals.”

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She remembers freaking out over the news as the world around her ceased to make sense. She was trapped in a déjà vu of the whole situation with her mother. “My stomach sunk because it felt like the exact same thing all over again. I was sitting on the bench for a tennis event in Sydney, Australia. I wanted to throw up. “

And not just for any event, Pegula was prepping for her mixed doubles event with Frances Tiafoe at the United Cup. “I was supposed to go on for mixed doubles in 15 minutes and I remember telling one of my teammates, ‘I am a little freaked out right now, this is too close to home, and I feel like I am going to have a panic attack’ “.

Before such an important event, freaking out is not a usual occurrence for pro players like Pegula. However, losing her calm at the brink of a big game was due to her traumatic experience with her mother’s situation.

Jessica’s mother was only saved in the perilous episode owing to her sister Kelly. Thus, she knew the complexities involved in this time of crisis. However, this time, the story comes to a happy ending as she writes, “I ended up going on for mixed doubles and we won.”

What really happened to Kim Pegula?

In June 2022, Kim was rushed to the hospital on her birthday, in the middle of the night, after the shocking episode. Somehow she was stabilized by her daughter Kelly who is a certified CPR practitioner. Following the weeks after her surgery, the family stayed back in the hospital for days to be there with her.

Jessica and her family have been through a lot with her mother, Kim. However, they have seldom spoken about it until now. Last year, when rumors about Kim’s hospitalization surfaced, the family assured the world that she was alright. Meanwhile, in private, they were fighting battles worse than we could ever imagine. Despite suffering greatly, the family is back enjoying each other’s company after Kim’s recovery. The same goes for Damar Hamlin as well. According to his recent activity on Twitter, Hamlin is at home with his family and recovering from his near-death experience.

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