Kim Pegula was back on the field Saturday night for a moment that meant far more than a photo op.
The Bills co-owner made her first known public appearance in more than two years at the team’s first event inside the new Highmark Stadium, walking onto the field with her husband, Terry Pegula, and their son Matthew after the Return of the Blue & Red practice. Terry held her hand as the family crossed the turf, then they stopped near midfield for pictures while Terry pointed out features of the new building.
For Kim Pegula, 57, it marked another step in a recovery that has stretched back to the cardiac arrest and brain injury she suffered in June 2022. Her daughter, professional tennis player Jessica Pegula, first shared details of the health scare in a February 2023 essay for The Players’ Tribune. Jessica wrote that her father found Kim unresponsive after she went into cardiac arrest while sleeping at the family’s Florida home, and that her sister Kelly performed CPR until paramedics restored Kim’s heartbeat.
"She saved her life," Jessica wrote.
Kim spent about a week in intensive care and two weeks in the hospital before moving to an inpatient care facility, where Jessica said the family’s focus shifted to the effects of a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen. At the time of that essay, Jessica said her mother was dealing with "significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues," though she could read, write and understand well.
Her return Saturday came in a setting tied closely to her own work. Before her health emergency, Kim had been involved in planning for the new stadium and helped negotiate the 30-year lease agreement with New York State. When the Bills held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new stadium in June, Terry Pegula grew emotional while speaking about her role in the project.
"Kim, I wish you could have finished this project with the same passion and hard work that you started with," Terry said.
Now she has seen the Bills take the field in their new home. Saturday’s practice was the first public team event at the $2.2 billion stadium, and the crowd of 51,807 got a look at the franchise’s next chapter. After practice, players’ families came onto the field as the team stayed out to socialize and take photos, and the Pegulas joined in.
Terry and Kim Pegula bought the Bills in 2014, keeping the franchise in Western New York. Kim grew up in Fairport and remains a co-owner of the team.
Her appearance had been a long time coming. She attended Bills training camp in July 2023 for her first known public outing since the cardiac arrest, then returned on July 26, 2024, walking onto the field with assistance from Terry before helping break down the team’s post-practice huddle. Until Saturday, she had not been seen publicly since that appearance more than two years ago.
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