Harrison Butker Sprang into Action After Teammate BJ Thompson Went into Cardiac Arrest
By Movieguide® Contributor
Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker immediately ran to get medical assistance after his teammate, BJ Thompson, began seizing and fell into cardiac arrest during a team meeting.
“When [Thompson] had the seizure, Butker immediately ran towards the training room [to find assistance from medical staff],” Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance, Rick Burkholder, said during a press conference.
“As a team, we tried to stabilize [Thompson] and then put him on the floor while he was still seizing and then he went into cardiac arrest,” Burkholder added, revealing more of the events that occurred. Thompson was then administered a shock from an AED, which restarted his heart after it had stopped beating for roughly one minute. Soon after, Thompson was taken into the care of the Kansas City Fire Department and paramedics before being admitted to the University of Kansas Health System hospital.
Thompson has yet to receive a health diagnosis and remains under close watch by hospital staff but is on the mend and in stable condition.
“He’s alert, he’s awake. He’s coming through quite well,” Burkholder said. “We don’t have a diagnosis and in medicine sometimes you don’t have that [but Thomson is] headed in the absolute right direction.”
Chiefs safety Justin Reid added, “Harrison’s that guy, he loves all of us and we’re a family.”
“This is so much deeper than just football. We root for each other and in a moment like that you just have to call yourself into action and Harrison did that,” Reid said.
Butker, meanwhile, continues to face scrutiny over comments he made during a commencement speech earlier this year at Benedictine College where he championed conservative Christian values such as a pro-life stance.
“If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now,” Butker said at the Regina Caeli Academy’s Courage Under Fire gala at the end of May. “Over the past few days, my beliefs – or what people think I believe – have been the focus of countless discussions around the globe.”
“At the outset, many people expressed a shocking level of hate. But as the days went on, even those who disagreed with my viewpoints shared their support for my freedom of religion,” he continued.
Even as many of Butker’s teammates have spoken out against the views he expressed during his commencement speech, they have lauded Butker as a person and maintained that he is a great teammate.
Movieguide® previously reported on Butker:
Kansas City Chief’s kicker, Harrison Butker was praised after he spoke on the importance of pro-life at the White House ceremony for the Super Bowl champions.
“I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives,” Christian Headlines reported of Butker.
“As a father who has experienced three miscarriages, my wife and I understand the hardships that come with losing a child,” he added. “Every life is precious and should be valued whether outside or inside the womb.”
Butker was spotted endorsing a tie made by pro-life organization Live Action. The tie contained the Latin phrase “Vulnerari Praesidio” on it, which means “protect the most vulnerable.”
