Chiefs BJ Thompson Responsive After Cardiac Arrest; Harrison Butker Played Key Role In Helping Him

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end BJ Thompson, 25, is reportedly on the road to recovery after suffering a seizure and cardiac arrest during a team meeting this week.

The incident happened on Thursday when the former Stephen F. Austin State University standout was in a special teams meeting.

Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs’ vice president of sports medicine and performance, said during a press conference on Friday that the team had held a meeting earlier in the week on how players should respond to serious medical emergencies.

“He’s awake and he’s alert,” Burkholder said in updating reporters on Thompson’s condition in the hospital. “He’s headed in the absolute right direction.”

He said that when the incident happened, kicker Harrison Butker “immediately ran towards the training room and grabbed [assistant athletic trainers] Julie Frymyer and David Glover and then grabbed me, and we went into the room.”

“As a team, we tried to stabilize BJ and put him on the floor while he was still seizing,” he said. “Then he went into cardiac arrest. Our team of that group of people provided CPR for him. He had one AED shock and came back, so he was only in cardiac arrest for probably less than a minute, minute and a half.”

“Our players, our security staff — everybody involved, coaches and staff — they were phenomenal in handling the crisis,” he added.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that it was a “tough situation,” but that Thompson was fortunate to have suffered the medical emergency where he did and not somewhere else.

“Thank goodness though, if it had to happen, no better place then right here where he had the support that knows what to do,” he said