Some Kansas City Chiefs fans who attended one of the coldest NFL games on record in January are being told to schedule amputations following their hospitalizations for frostbite.
Seventy percent of frostbite patients that the Grossman Burn Center at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri received since January are being advised to undergo the life-altering procedure.
Many of the patients were among the daring fans who braved the elements at Arrowhead Stadium to watch the Chiefs’ 26-9 wild-card weekend victory over the Dolphins on Jan. 13.
“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,” Dr. Megan Garcia director of the burn center told FOX 4 KC.
One fan, who only took their gloves off for five minutes to set up a tent in the parking lot, was left with red fingertips that have since turned dark blue and purple, photos shared by HCA Midwest Health to the outlet show.
The 30 percent of patients who are in discussion of amputations have been undergoing treatment over the past weeks in hyperbaric oxygen tanks.
Those individuals, while they keep their fingers and toes, will still have long-lasting effects from the cold.
“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,” Garcia said. “So we are also educating them to make sure they stay warm for the years and months to come.”
The Jan. 13 game was the fourth coldest game in league history and the lowest temperatures recorded at Arrowhead Stadium since its opening in 1972, as 70,000 fans packed the stands to watch the beginning of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl push.
Thermostats on the field displayed a bone-chilling minus-4 degrees at kickoff and fell as low as eight below during the game.
The wind chill of minus-27 also marked the third-coldest kickoff wild chill in NFL history, per the Chiefs.
The Kansas City Fire Department transported 15 people from the stadium to the hospital, seven suffering from hypothermia and three with frostbite, according to KMBC.com.
The number does not include fans who sought medical attention at the stadium or those who made walk-in visits at local hospitals following the game.
The Grossman Burn Center revealed the information during a burn survivor’s reunion at the medical center on Tuesday.
“People think of burns, they think of fire, they think of hot thermal injuries. But burns can happen from many different causes,” Garcia added.
At the time Garcia predicted the number of amputations her burn unit would encounter in the late winter to early spring would be in the double digits.
“In just this cold spell we’ve been having I’ve seen multiple patients that will likely require amputation five to six weeks from now. I imagine it’ll be somewhere between 10 and 20 at this point,” she told WDAF in January.
Among the fans at the playoff game was Taylor Swift who was in attendance to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce’s team’s victory.
The 34-year-old pop star was bundled up in a No. 87 jacket designed by Kristin Juszczyk, wife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and winter hat, sitting inside one of the stadium’s suites.
