Jessica Pegula has described how the joy of breaking into the top 10 for the first time gave way to a family tragedy that left her contemplating the end of her career.
Pegula, the world No 4, revealed in an emotional essay that her mother Kim, co-owner of the Buffalo Bills and president of the Buffalo Sabres, suffered a cardiac arrest last summer that has left her facing significant speech and memory challenges.
Addressing speculation about her mother’s health for the first time, Pegula said in a piece for the Players’ Tribune that she had been moved to speak out after Damar Hamlin, the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills defensive back, likewise went into cardiac arrest during a game in Cincinnati on 2 January, in what she termed a “bizarre, messed-up, full circle moment”.
“When can we start talking about it?” she texted her husband, Terry, in the hours after Hamlin was stricken. “When can I tell her story, my story, my family’s story? Everyone just keeps asking me. I really need to get it off my chest.”
In a statement issued last June, Pegula’s family announced that Kim was receiving medical care “as a result of some unexpected health issues”. No further details were provided and, when Pegula played at Wimbledon later that month, she was forced to deny rumours that her mother had died. As the 28-year-old outlined in her essay, the truth was rather different.
Days after returning from the French Open, where a run to the quarter-finals lifted her ranking from 11th to a then career-high of eighth, Pegula received a late-night call from her sister, Kelly, to say that she was in an ambulance accompanying their mother to hospital. Kim had gone into cardiac arrest in her sleep and, said Pegula, was saved only by the prompt action of Kelly, who had undergone CPR training three months earlier and was able to keep her mother breathing until paramedics arrived.
As the focus shifted from saving Kim’s life to her recovery, the family endured a harrowing fortnight of waiting at the hospital. After a week, Kim’s condition improved sufficiently for her to be discharged from intensive care, but it was clear the road ahead would be lengthy. Pegula missed most of the grass-court season but decided to play at Wimbledon – “I knew my mom would be upset if I skipped because of her,” she said – and won a couple of matches before falling to Croatia’s Petra Martic in round three. Yet the long-term outlook remained far from clear.
“All of a sudden, your world gets flipped upside down and you have no idea what the fuck is going on,” wrote Pegula. “Suddenly, I went from ‘Let’s celebrate top 10 in the world” to ‘Do I need to start thinking about my career after tennis a lot sooner than I thought?’
“‘Does my dad and family need help?’ ‘Maybe I should just go back to school and work for the family.’ I am 28 and I take pride in being able to handle every situation thrown at me, but this was A LOT.”
Pegula nonetheless continued to compile the finest season of her career, reaching the last eight at the US Open, claiming the biggest title of her life in Guadalajara, and qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time as she finished the season ranked third in the world.
“In my acceptance speech I dedicated it to my mom,” wrote Pegula of her win at the Guadalajara Open, which marked her first WTA 1000 title. “I wanted her to know that even after a terrible six months, I still fought every day because of her. If she could fight through what she was going through, I could too. She cried during my speech and trophy ceremony.
“My mom deserved to see me lift a trophy after what she had been through.”
If that is a tribute to Pegula’s spirit and determination, they are clearly qualities that she shares with her mother, whose recovery continues.
“She can read, write, and understand pretty well, but she has trouble finding the words to respond. It is hard to deal with and it takes a lot of patience to communicate with her, but I thank God every day that we can still communicate with her at all,” wrote Pegula, who last month reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the third year in a row.
“The doctors continue to be blown away by her recovery, considering where she started, and her determination is the driving force of that.”