Some Kansas City Chiefs fans who attended the coldest NFL game on record in January are being recommended to schedule amputation surgeries after being hospitalized with frostbite.
Seventy percent of the frostbitten patients admitted since January at Research Medical Center’s Grossman Burn Center in Kansas City, Missouri, have been recommended for the life-changing procedure.
Many of the patients were among the brave fans who braved inclement weather to watch the Chiefs’ wild-card weekend win over the Dolphins on Jan. 13 at Arrowhead Stadium.
“The patients who suffered frostbite during the Chiefs game are just getting to the point. We’re talking about the possibility that they might need amputation,” said Burn Center Director Dr. Megan Garcia. Told. he told FOX 4 KC.
One fan, who took off his gloves for just five minutes to set up a tent in the parking lot, said his fingertips turned red and then turned dark blue and purple, HCA Midwest Health shared a photo with Outlet Show. .
Thirty percent of patients being discussed for amputation have been treated with hyperbaric oxygen tanks over the past few weeks.
These people experience long-lasting effects from the cold, even if they keep their fingers and toes intact.
“It’s still a lifelong process. They will have sensitivity and pain for the rest of their lives and will always be susceptible to frostbite in the future,” Dr. Garcia said. “So we’re also educating them so they can stay warm for years and months to come.”
The Jan. 13 game was the fourth coldest in league history, marking the lowest temperature at Arrowhead Stadium since it opened in 1972, with 70,000 fans in the stands to watch the Chiefs begin their Super Bowl berth. It was crowded.
At kickoff, the field thermostat read a bone-chilling minus four degrees, dropping to minus eight degrees during the game.
The -27 degree wind chill was also the third coldest kickoff chill in NFL history, according to the Chiefs.
The Kansas City Fire Department transported 15 people from the stadium to hospitals, seven with hypothermia and three with frostbite. According to KMBC.com.
This figure does not include fans who sought treatment at the stadium or those who flown to local hospitals after the game.
Grossman Burn Center disclosed this information during a burn survivor reunion held at the medical center on Tuesday.
“People think of burns, fires, and scalds. But burns can occur for many different reasons,” Garcia added.
At the time, Dr. Garcia predicted that the number of amputations her burn unit would encounter in late winter and early spring would be in the double digits.
“We’ve seen a number of patients in this cold weather that are probably going to need amputations five to six weeks from now. I think it’s somewhere between 10 and 20 at this point.” she told WDAF In January.
Among the fans at the playoff game was Taylor Swift, who was in attendance to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s team win.
The 34-year-old pop star was wrapped up in a No. 87 jacket. Design by Kristin Juszczykwife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and was sitting in one of the stadium’s suites, wearing a winter hat.
