PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills co-owner Kim Pegula showed significant signs in her recovery from a debilitating cardiac arrest by being escorted to the field by her husband to break the post-practice team huddle on Friday.
Though her steps were somewhat tentative, this marked the first time Pegula was seen publicly walking on her own since going into cardiac arrest in June 2022, shortly after celebrating her 53rd birthday.
Pegula spent the first two days of camp watching practice from the passenger seat of the family's SUV parked on the track near one of the end zones. It was similar to last year's camp, when Pegula also watched practice from the vehicle in making her first appearance since falling ill.
As practice was ending on Friday, Terry Pegula went to the driver's side of the SUV and helped his wife get out. He then took her hand and led her to the team gathered near the goal line. In being surrounded by players, she then counted down "three, two, one, Bills," to break the huddle, left tackle Dion Dawkins said.
"We've seen her every day, and to see her progress, it's amazing," Dawkins said. "I'm proud of her. That's still the Mama Bear."
Coach Sean McDermott grew emotional in recounting the moment.
"Oh, man. How do you put that in words? Grateful and perspective, I think, are the two words that come to mind. And we can be here all day talking about the reasons for those two words," McDermott said. "Extremely grateful for Terry and Kim. Grateful that she's working through this. And, perspective is how precious every day is."
Pegula's recovery has been lengthy and extensive in regaining her motor skills and dealing with what the family described as significant language and memory issues.
Serving as the Bills and Buffalo Sabres president before falling ill, Kim Pegula was the public face of both franchises owned by the couple.
She was constantly helping with player-related issues in making sure newcomers were welcomed to Buffalo, while also overseeing marketing campaigns and playing a role in designing the Bills' new stadium, which is under construction and set to open in 2026. Pegula was also a member of several NFL committees.
"She gave so much energy and effort before the incident. So it's the least that we can do is rally around her," quarterback Josh Allen said. "I know a lot of the new guys don't understand the impact that she had on a lot of guys here, like myself, so we're just happy to see her out here."
With camp underway, the Pegulas are expected to travel to Paris in the coming days to watch their daughter, Jessica Pegula, represent the United States in tennis at the Olympics.
Kim Pegula is still listed as the team's co-owner, though her husband has assumed her role as president of the Bills and Sabres as part of a major restructuring of the Pegula's holdings last summer.
Her presence at camp in suburban Rochester, New York, represented a homecoming -- the Pegulas grew up in nearby Fairport.
From South Korea, Pegula was left orphaned as a child before being adopted at age 5 by Ralph and Marilyn Kerr, who brought her to the United States.
She is Terry Pegula's second wife, after the two met in a town south of Buffalo and were married in 1993. The Pegulas made their fortune in the natural gas industry and returned to western New York by purchasing the Sabres in 2011, followed by buying the Bills three years later following the death of franchise founder Ralph Wilson.
Copyright 2024 by The Associated Press
