Bills co-owner Kim Pegula interrupts team huddle in sign of recovery from cardiac arrest
PITTSFORD, NEW YORK — Buffalo Bills co-owner Kim Pegula showed significant signs of her recovery from a debilitating cardiac arrest as she was escorted off the field by her husband to end the team’s post-practice huddle Friday.
It was the first time Pegula had been seen in public walking alone since her 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 SUV parked on the track near one of the end zones. It was similar to last year’s campwhen Pegula also watched the training from the vehicle, making her first appearance since falling ill.
As practice wound down Friday, Terry Pegula walked to the driver’s side of the SUV and helped his wife out. He then took her hand and led her toward the team gathered near the goal line. Surrounded by players, she then counted “three, two, one, Bills” to end the huddle, left tackle Dion Dawkins said.
Kim Pegula is undergoing intensive therapy as she struggles with what her family describes as significant language and memory problems.
She is still listed as a co-owner of the team, although her husband assumed her role as president of the Bills as part of a major restructuring of the Pegulas’ assets last summer. The Pegulas also own the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, with Terry also resuming her role as president of that team.
Kim Pegula’s presence at the camp in suburban Rochester, New York, represented a homecoming: she grew up near Fairport.
Originally from South Korea, Pegula was 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 married in 1993. The Pegulas made their fortune in the natural gas industry and returned to Western New York, purchasing the Sabres in 2011 and then purchasing the Bills three years later after the death of franchise founder Ralph Wilson.
Before falling ill, Pegula was actively involved in player affairs and also served on various NFL committees.
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