Some fans at frigid Chiefs playoff game underwent amputation

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Some fans at frigid Chiefs playoff game underwent amputations, hospital confirms

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and ARNIE STAPLETON, Associated Press Mar 8, 2024 Updated 4 hrs ago


KANSAS CITY — Some of the people who attended the near-record cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in January had to undergo amputations after suffering frostbite, a Missouri hospital said Friday.



Research Medical Center didn't provide exact numbers but said in a statement that it treated dozens of people who had experienced frostbite during an 11-day cold snap in January. Twelve of those people — including some who were at the Jan. 13 game — had to undergo amputations involving mostly fingers and toes. And the hospital said more surgeries are expected over the next two to four weeks as "injuries evolve."



The University of Kansas hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game but didn't report any amputations.



The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius), and wind gusts made for a windchill of minus 27 degrees F (minus 33 C). That shattered the record for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which had been 1 degree F (minus 17 C), set in a 1983 game against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.



The wild-card game was played the same day the Buffalo Bills were supposed to host the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that game was pushed back a day because a blizzard dumped up to 2 feet (0.61 meters) of snow in New York and made traveling to the game too dangerous.



The game in Kansas City went on as scheduled because the frigid weather didn't present similar problems getting to Arrowhead Stadium, even though the National Weather Service warned of "dangerously cold" windchills.



Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, said in a statement that answered one of the top questions she is asked. The timing can be even shorter if there is a windchill, she said.



Fans were allowed to bring heated blankets into the stadium and small pieces of cardboard to place under their feet on the cold concrete.



The coldest game in NFL history remains minus 13 F (minus 25 C) for the 1967 NFL championship, when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl. The windchill that day was minus 48 F (minus 44 C).



The Chiefs didn't immediately respond to email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.



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Stapleton reported from Englewood, Colorado.


www.emissourian.com/news/some-fans-at-frigid-chiefs-playoff-game-underwent-amputations-hospital-confirms/article_73421880-ddc0-11ee-b822-03d648658526.html?utm_source=emissourian.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1710064811&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read%20more


Talk about loyal fans of football.

[kit]

I've heard several sports fans who said they'd give an arm or a leg for their favorite sports team, but this is a little over the top, don't you think?

[Clipper]

I have always thought that some of the more rabid football fans were a few french fries short of a happy meal. I have driven busloads to Buffalo and had the passengers return to the bus dripping and shivering after sitting through and entire game in pouring rain while drinking cold beer.

I can't even imagine anyone actually enjoying the game while their hands and feet were throbbing from the cold.

[clarencebunsen]

I have been to a total of one NFL game. That was a Vikings-Cowboys playoff at the old open air field in Bloomington MN. At the time fans were allowed to bring thermoses into the stadium. Mine was filled with hot coffee and I used cups of hot coffee as hand warmers throughout the game. Others had stronger stuff in their thermoses which led to a rowdy crowd. Rules have changed now.

[BHU]

I attended a game ONCE at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to see the Patriots play in late October a frw years ago. Me being a dumbasz wore only a fleece pullover jacket, jeans & sneakers. I froze my you know what off for every 3 hours & couldn't wait to get out of there. The only thing that kept me going was hot DD coffee at the concession stand. Then we had to walk half a mile to get to the parking lot because the stadium lot was full, reserved or whatever. Pluz it was a four hour drive home, in the dark. Never again.

[Clipper]

When I drove group to Foxboro we used to stay right in the parking lot until traffic thinned a bit. I never could understand why traffic was jammed up for over an hour when the stadium is so close to the interstate. The stadium is only 4 miles North of I- 495 just off US1 and we would creep bumper all the way to the interstate, even an hour after the game ended. Then we would sometimes hit another bottle neck where 495 intersected with the Mass Pike. A bus driver's left leg was worn out by the time we were able to get to highway speed and cruise. Thank goodness the companies I worked for got away from the standard 4 and 5 speed manual transmissions and went to Allison automatics. Some of the older GM motorcoaches had a clutch spring so strong that it would almost raise your butt off the seat to press the clutch pedal down.

[BHU]

We parked in a private lot that could probably hold 200 vehicles at $40 a pop. Upon arrival there were pleny of workers there waving driver's in, directing traffic etc. After the game? It was a sh** show with every man for himself just to to get out of there. Traffic was bumper to bumper & we had to pull out in front of a line of cars to get out of the lot or we would have sat there for hours. The owners of the lot gave new meaning to the phrase "take the money & run".

I'm no football fanatic but I don't mind a good game on a Sunday afternoon - with me on my recliner, a cup of hot coffee next to me, remote at the ready in case the game is too boring or drags on past my attention span.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

With all the money the NFL has why do they not build these arena's with domes so everyone can be warm or cool and dry depending on the weather. Maybe Trump can add this to his list of things to do while in office. I sent a request to Biden but he said while a great idea finances a tight and we need to support Ukraine and Israel with their finances during this war. Why are we not financial the coup going on in Haiti started by a huge prison breakout that allowed the prisoners to take control of the government. 

[BHU]

Mar 12, 2024 10:35:04 GMT -5 Atticus Pizzaballa said:

With all the money the NFL has why do they not build these arena's with domes so everyone can be warm or cool and dry depending on the weather. Maybe Trump can add this to his list of things to do while in office. I sent a request to Biden but he said while a great idea finances a tight and we need to support Ukraine and Israel with their finances during this war. Why are we not financial the coup going on in Haiti started by a huge prison breakout that allowed the prisoners to take control of the government. 

Trump has his hands full trying to stay out of Otisville & other prisons without worrying about football stadiums. Trump hates the NFL after owners denied his scheme to buy the Bills because they knew he was as crooked as the day is long & wanted no part of his b.s. But he did manage to run the USFL into the ground, but who's surprised? Just like he did with the Republican Party & his next move is to bankrupt the RNC after him & his crime family robs it blind.