Kansas City Chiefs Fans Who Watched Freezing Playoffs Need Amputations Due To Frostbite
Many Chiefs fans reportedly suffered frostbite injuries after attending a playoff game last January -- the coldest game in the team's history.
On Jan. 13, football fans watched the AFC Wild Card Playoffs between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time, the temperature was -4 degrees, with a wind chill of -27 degrees at kickoff.
Fox4 reported that it was the fourth-coldest game in National Football League (NFL) history and the coldest for the Chiefs franchise thus far.
Many current frostbite patients at the Grossman Burn Center at the Research Medical Center in Kansas City are reportedly Chiefs fans who watched the game.
About 70% of the facility's patients have been advised to schedule amputations, while the remaining 30% are lucky enough to get treated in hyperbaric oxygen tanks.
One of the Chiefs supporter patients told Fox4 that he just took off his gloves for five minutes to put up a tent at a parking lot outside Arrowhead Stadium when he experienced frostbite.
HCA Midwest Health shared a photo of the fan's severe frostbite injury.
"The patients who had their frostbite injuries along with the Chiefs game, they are just getting to the point now we are starting to discuss their amputations that might be necessary," said Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center.
"It's still a lifelong process. They'll have sensitivity and pain for the rest of their lives and always will be more susceptible to frostbite in the future. So we are also educating them to make sure they stay warm for the years and months to come," she continued.
The chilliest game in NFL history took place on New Year's Eve of 1967 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to the NFL.
During the championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, the temperature was -13 degrees, with a wind chill of -48 degrees.
NFL's second-coldest game in history was recorded on Jan. 10, 1982, during the AFC championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Diego Chargers at the Riverfront Stadium.
The temperature at the time was -9 degrees, with a wind chill of -59 degrees.
The record was followed by the wild card game between the Seattle Hawks and the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 10, 2016, at the TCF Bank Stadium, where the temperature was -6 degrees, with a -25 degrees wind chill.
