Jessica Pegula reveals considering early retirement after her mother's cardiac arrest in 2022
Jessica Pegula recently wrote about a difficult period in her life last year after her mother Kim Pegula suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2022. America's top-ranked player even pondered early retirement to take over some of her mother's countless responsibilities.
Kim Pegula, 53, is the president and owner of the NFL team Buffalo Bills and the NHL team Buffalo Sabres. On her last birthday (June 7, 2022), Kim was found unresponsive as she went into cardiac arrest. Jessica's sister Kelly performed CPR before the ambulance arrived and her heartbeat was restored.
Writing for The Players' Tribune, Jessica revealed that her mother's health was improving with every passing day. She also discussed how Kim Pegula used to look after numerous aspects of their multiple businesses, which was unlikely to happen again.
"My mom always wanted me to be involved, she wanted me to learn and eventually do what she was doing," Jessica wrote. "She always told me to wait until after tennis was done. I would always press her to give me more responsibility, to let me be more involved because I wanted to help."
"Now here I am, with my family, trapped in discussions about her care, caretakers, doctors, therapy, and that which seemed like the least important, my tennis career. All of a sudden, your world gets flipped upside down and you have no idea what the f**k is going on."
Jessica, who had just entered the top 10 of the WTA rankings by reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, considered ending her tennis career to help her father Terry 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," she added.
"Thankful that she is now home" - Jessica Pegula on her mother Kim Pegula
Jessica Pegula's mother Kim has even surprised the doctors with her unbelievably quick recovery, which is still underway. The 28-year-old player won her maiden WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara last November and dedicated it to her mother. In her blog post, Jessica stated that her family was lucky as her mother survived and her health was gradually improving.
"It has been a tough year but at the same time, I feel lucky and blessed. I am thankful she is still with us when other families may not have been so lucky," Jessica Pegula wrote. "That she even had a chance at recovery when the first week in the hospital seemed so dim. Thankful for the doctors that aided in her recovery."
"Thankful that she is now home, that she gets to watch the Bills, Sabres, and my tennis matches. She never watched my matches before, because she got too nervous. Now she watches all of them."