BJ Thompson made a surprise appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl ring ceremony one week after his health scare.
Thompson, 25, attended the private event held at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, alongside his teammates on Thursday, June 13.
Thompson’s outing comes after he had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest during practice on June 6.
According to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero via X at the time, “The #Chiefs canceled all team activities today after a backup defensive lineman had a seizure in a special teams meeting and went into cardiac arrest, per sources. The team’s medical staff worked quickly, an ambulance was called and the player is currently in stable condition.”
The following day, Pelissero reported via X that Thompson was “awake and responsive,” according to his agent, Chris Turnage. Pelissero added, “One day after Thompson suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting, the second-year pro’s prognosis is good.”
The defensive lineman was released from the hospital on Monday, June 10.
After the incident at the practice facility, Chiefs head trainer Rick Burkholder gave insight into exactly what went down.
“When he had this seizure, [Chiefs kicker Harrison] Butker immediately ran towards the training room and grabbed Julie Frymyer and David Glover and then grabbed me,” Burkholder said in a June 7 press conference. (Frymyer and Glover are both assistant athletic trainers with the Chiefs.)
“As a team, we tried to stabilize BJ and then put him on the floor while he was still seizing and then he went into cardiac arrest,” Burkholder continued. “Our team of that group of people provided CPR for him. He had one AED [automated external defibrillator] shock and came back. So he was only in cardiac arrest for probably less than a minute, minute-and-a-half.”
Once at the hospital, Burkholder said Thompson was “heavily sedated” and “on a ventilator overnight.”
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“We don’t have a diagnosis. Sometimes in medicine you don’t have that,” he explained at the time. “But he’s awake, he’s alert and he’s headed in the absolute right direction.”
In addition to Thompson, other Chiefs stars were seen attending the event – including Butker, 28, who brought his wife Isabelle Butker, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany and tight end Travis Kelce, who opted out of walking the red carpet.
