Several Kansas City Chiefs fans suffered from frostbite during a game where temperatures fell as low as minus eight and now may need to have their fingers amputated.
Since January, the Grossman Burn Center at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, has seen an alarming trend.
Seventy percent of frostbite patients treated there have been advised to consider amputation, highlighting the severity of the injuries sustained during the freezing cold game.
Many of these patients were among the fans who braved the frigid temperatures at Arrowhead Stadium on January 13 to witness the Chiefs' victorious wild-card weekend clash against the Dolphins.
Dr. Megan Garcia, director of the burn center, spoke to FOX 4 KC about the situation: "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."
Images shared by HCA Midwest Health reveal the extent of the damage, with one fan's fingertips turning from red to dark blue and purple after just five minutes of exposure while setting up a tent in the parking lot.
For the remaining 30 percent of patients, discussions around amputations loom as they continue their treatment in hyperbaric oxygen tanks. However, even if they manage to retain their fingers and toes, the lasting effects of the cold will persist.
"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 emphasized. "So we are also educating them to make sure they stay warm for the years and months to come."
The January 13th game marked a historic moment in NFL weather records, ranking as the fourth coldest game in league history. With temperatures plummeting to a bone-chilling minus-4 degrees at kickoff and a wind chill factor of minus-27, fans endured extreme conditions rarely witnessed in the sport.
According to reports from KMBC.com, the Kansas City Fire Department transported 15 individuals from the stadium to the hospital, with seven suffering from hypothermia and three with frostbite. However, this number doesn't account for those who sought medical assistance at the stadium or in local hospitals post-game.
Garcia anticipated a surge in amputations during the late winter to early spring period, estimating that her unit would encounter "somewhere between 10 and 20" cases.