Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Was First Teammate to Bring Medical Staff to BJ Thompson During Cardiac Arrest

It has been revealed that Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s quick reaction played a vital role in bringing medical aid to defensive end BJ Thompson after he went into a seizure and cardiac arrest during a team meeting.

The team canceled its practices and meetings Thursday after Thompson collapsed during a morning meeting. The 25-year-old Thompson had a seizure, went into cardiac arrest, and remained unconscious until Friday afternoon. He was tended to by the team’s medical staff and then sent to a hospital, where he was listed as in stable condition and where he awoke on Friday afternoon.

BJ Thompson #53 of the Kansas City Chiefs rushes the edge during a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on January 7, 2024, in Inglewood, California. (Ric Tapia/Getty Images)

Now, head trainer Rick Burkholder is reporting that it was Harrison Butker who first ran from the meeting room and tracked down the team’s medical assistants and got them to Thompson’s side to help stabilize the stricken player before the city’s first responders were able to arrive on the scene.

“We were in a meeting,” Burkholder told the media at a team presser today, “and then he went into cardiac arrest.”

He added that the team had run many drills to prepare for medical emergencies and even had a drill run on Monday. But Burkholder noted that it was Harrison Butkter who acted quickly to get Thompson the care he needed.

“With BJ, when he had this seizure, Butker immediately ran towards the training room, and, uh, and grabbed Julie Frymyer and David Glover and then grabbed me.” They went into the room to begin applying defibrillators and other life-saving procedures to try and stabilize Thompson.

Burkholder said that they got Thompson onto the floor as he was seizing, but then he went into cardiac arrest. He was in that state for only about a minute or a minute and a half before the medical team on hand revived him. Around that time, the Kansas City Fire Dept. arrived and rushed the player to the hospital.

The Chiefs trainer added that Thompson remained heavily sedated and in an induced coma overnight. Still, by Friday afternoon, he was awake and aware and was “absolutely headed in the right direction.”

The act of heroism by Butker will not likely sit well with those out there who have been stirring hate toward the kicker for daring to express his support for traditional Christian values during a college graduation commencement address last month.

Many on social media remarked that the haters would be furious that it was Butker who acted decisively to get Thompson the potentially life-saving care he needed.

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