NFL fans who attended the Chiefs-Dolphins playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium in what were deemed dangerously cold temperatures — to the point it led to several hospitalizations due to frostbite — are now reportedly being advised by doctors to get amputation surgery.
According to FOX4KC, the director of the Grossman Burn Center in Kansas City has sadly indicated that the majority of a whopping 70 percent of patients who are currently being advised to schedule amputations due to the frigid temperatures in January are fans who attended the Chiefs 26-7 victory over the Dolphins on Jan. 13.
Shortly after the game, it had been reported that roughly half of the 70 calls for service that were received by the Kansas City Fire Department were hypothermia-related.
Here's what Dr. Megan Garcia, the Medical Director at Grossman Burn Center, had to say:
"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," Garcia said.
Even for the 30 percent who have been fortunate enough to avoid facing the jarring, scary reality of needing some form of amputation surgery, they're still not completely out of the woods after reportedly spending weeks undergoing treatment in hyperbaric oxygen tanks.
More from Dr. Garcia:
"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."
The game time temperature at kickoff was listed as minus-4 degrees to go along with a truly terrifying wind chill factor of minus-27 degrees, making it the fourth-coldest NFL game of all time and the coldest game in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs franchise.
Prior to kickoff, there were several major voices calling for the playoff game to be postponed due to the unusually cold weather conditions, including Robert Griffin III, who was emphatic about his stance:
The Dolphins-Chiefs game should be postponed too. -1 degree weather, with wind chills of -30 degrees, snow and 29 mph winds IS NOT SAFE for players or fans and IS NOT FOOTBALL WEATHER.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 13, 2024
For such a wildly popular sport that brings about so much emotion and devotion among football fans, this incredibly sad news certainly puts things in proper perspective, making events like the upcoming NFL Draft and forthcoming NFL free agency period feel a whole lot less important.
