Kansas City Chiefs’ BJ Thompson ‘awake and alert’ after suffering cardiac arrest during team meeting

BJ Thompson, a defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs, is “awake and alert” after suffering a seizure and cardiac arrest during a team meeting on June 6, Rick Burkholder, the team’s vice president of sports medicine and performance, told reporters on June 7.

During a press conference, Burkholder told reporters that his teammate Harrison Butker immediately sought medical help when the 25-year-old Thompson began to have a seizure.

“As a team, we tried to stabilize BJ and then put him on the ground while he was still having a seizure. Then he went into cardiac arrest,” Burkholder said. “Our team from that group did CPR. He got an AED (automated external defibrillator) shock and came to. So the cardiac arrest probably lasted less than a minute, a minute and a half.”

Thompson’s agent Chris Turnage also told NBC News that the player is “awake and alert right now.”

Thompson was assisted by Kansas City firefighters and paramedics, who took him to the University of Kansas Health System, where “he was heavily sedated throughout the night yesterday,” Burkholder said.

Burkholder said Thompson was on a ventilator all night “just so he could breathe because he was so heavily sedated,” but was taken out of sedation on the morning of June 7.

“He’s awake. He’s alert. He’s coming through OK. We don’t have a diagnosis. In medicine, sometimes you don’t,” he continued, adding, “Like I said, he’s awake and alert and he’s absolutely on the right track. All good in a somewhat dicey situation.”

According to NFL.com, following the incident, the team canceled all offseason training activities for June 6, while head coach Andy Reid and select players postponed their media session scheduled for June 6 to June 7.

Reid also spoke to reporters on June 7 and called Thompson’s incident a “difficult situation.”

“I’ve seen a few cases like this in my life, and it’s never, ever funny,” Reid said. “Thank God. I mean, if it had to happen, there’s no better place than right here, where you have a support unit that knows what to do.”

Thompson, who will play his second NFL season in 2024, was selected in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. The Arkansas native stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds. He played in one game last season and recorded two tackles in the Chiefs’ Week 18 win over their AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers.

Chiefs players are currently participating in a voluntary offseason program; mandatory minicamp is scheduled to open on June 11.

The team is preparing for its unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl. Last week, the team visited the White House in honor of last season’s championship title.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.