Four days after suffering a seizure and cardiac arrest during a team meeting, Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman BJ Thompson has left the hospital.
Thompson’s agent. Chris Turnage provided the update to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on Monday night in a statement.
“The family thanks everyone for their prayers and would like to especially thank the Chiefs medical and training staff for their quick response and professionalism during this situation,” Turnage’s statement read.
No further updates on Thompson’s condition were provided.
The medical incident took place at the Chiefs facility on Thursday during OTAs. Kansas City vice president of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder told reporters Friday that kicker Harrison Butker was the first to witness the incident and rushed to alert the Chiefs’ medical and training staff. According to Burkholder, Thompson received care from staff and a doctor who was on scene.
“He was still having seizures and then went into cardiac arrest, so our team in that group of people provided him with CPR,” Burkholder said. “He had one AED crash and he came back, so he was probably only in cardiac arrest for a minute, minute and a half.”
Thompson, 27, was then transported to a hospital by ambulance, where he was heavily sedated and placed on a ventilator to help him breathe through the sedation. Burkholder said doctors took him off sedatives on Friday and that Burkholder was “going in the absolutely right direction.”
It is still unclear what caused the seizure and cardiac arrest.
“We don’t have a diagnosis, and in medicine, sometimes you don’t,” Burkholder said Friday.
The Chiefs selected Thomas in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Stephen F. Austin. He played in one game as a rookie during Kansas City’s run to a second consecutive Super Bowl title, tallying two tackles in a Week 17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Thompson’s prognosis on and off the field remains unclear.
