Some attendees of frigid Chiefs recreation pressured into amputations following extreme frostbite, Kansas Metropolis hospital says – NBC Information

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Not less than “some” soccer followers, who attended January’s bitterly chilly Kansas Metropolis Chiefs playoff recreation, suffered excessive frostbite and finally wanted amputations, a hospital official mentioned Thursday.
The back-to-back champion Chiefs launched their 2023-24 postseason run with a 26-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 13 in a recreation that could be remembered as a lot for temperature readings than the ultimate rating.
The mercury plummeted to minus 3 with a wind chill of minus 25 at halftime of the competition performed at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Grossman Burn Heart in Kansas Metropolis handled 30 sufferers who suffered frostbite in January.
“Up to now, 12 sufferers have undergone amputation surgical procedures. A few of which attended the Chiefs recreation,” mentioned Christine Hamele, affiliate vp of HCA Midwest Well being which operates seven hospitals, together with the Research Medical Center and its Grossman Burn Heart.
“Our specialised physicians and skilled care staff proceed to deal with and monitor sufferers’ therapeutic to handle long-term wants, and we anticipate extra surgical procedures over the subsequent two to 4 weeks as their accidents evolve.”
Hamele cautioned in opposition to drawing any direct traces between amputations and that frigid Chiefs recreation as a result of these frostbitten limbs and digits might have resulted from different exposures.
“Some sufferers got here in post-Chief recreation, assuming it will heal,” Hamele mentioned. “Once they arrived within the outpatient, they don’t at all times reference the Chiefs recreation. For instance, one gentleman was on the Chiefs recreation, however can also be a meter reader.”
That Jan. 13 recreation was one of the crucial notable of this not too long ago concluded playoff season due to the climate, that it was solely out there to out-of-market followers via the digital service Peacock and drew the attendance of Taylor Swift, girlfriend of Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce.
Whereas Swift and Kelce’s mom appeared comfortable in a luxurious suite, circumstances outdoors regarded depressing.
Even Chief coach Andy Reid’s mustache was a casualty, turning to icicles within the bitter chilly.
Fifteen followers, 10 with cold-related signs, have been taken to hospitals by the Kansas Metropolis Fireplace Division transported that night. KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins mentioned he’s grateful there weren’t extra transports given the circumstances that frigid night time.
“Arrowhead Stadium holds 79,000-plus followers and contemplating the temperatures that day and the windchill, 10 weather-related transports was an especially low quantity,” he mentioned Thursday.
It was the fourth coldest football game in NFL historical past with the famed “Ice Bowl” of Dec. 31 1967 nonetheless serving on the frozen gridiron customary.
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, whereas enduring the chilly of minus 13 at kickoff with a windchill of minus 36 at Lambeau Discipline.
David Okay. Li is a senior breaking information reporter for NBC Information Digital.
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