Christian Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest and ‘was gone’ but ‘we got him back’, Denmark team doctor confirms
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN suffered a cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated, Denmark’s team doctor confirmed on Sunday.
The former Spurs midfielder, 29, received CPR as he was surrounded by distraught team-mates after collapsing during the game against Finland yesterday.
Medical staff raced onto the pitch to give emergency treatment to the Inter Milan ace as his team-mates formed a protective shield around him.
And speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen said: “We don’t have an explanation for what happened.
“I didn’t see it live, I saw it on the screen after it happened.
“It was a cardiac arrest. He was gone and we did cardiac resuscitation.
“How close were we? I don’t know. We got him back after 1 defib. That’s quite fast. The details, I’m not a cardiologist, so I will leave to the experts.”
Boesen added: “When I got to him he was on his side, he was breathing, I could feel a pulse, but suddenly that changed and we started to give him CPR.
“The help came really fast from the medical team and the rest of the staff with their co-operation, and we did what we had to do and managed to get Christian back.”
How close were we? I don’t know. We got him back after 1 defib. That’s quite fast. The details, I’m not a cardiologist, so I will leave to the experts.
Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen
Denmark’s captain Simon Kjaer was hailed as a “hero” after placing Eriksen in the recovery position while unconscious and giving CPR to his friend before medics arrived.
Eriksen was seen conscious and sitting up on a stretcher while receiving oxygen as he was taken from the pitch just after 6pm.
It was reported that he had a Facetime call with his Denmark team-mates and asked them to play the remainder of the match.
Danish players received professional help after the trauma of seeing their team-mate collapse.
Denmark released an update on Eriksen’s condition on Sunday morning on their Twitter page.
It read: “This morning we have spoken to Christian Eriksen, who has sent his greetings to his teammates.
“His condition is stable, and he continues to be hospitalised for further examination.
“The team and staff of the national team has received crisis assistance and will continue to be there for each other after yesterday’s incident.
“We would like to thank everyone for the heartfelt greetings to Christian Eriksen from fans, players, the Royal Families from both Denmark and England, international associations, club etc.
“We encourage everyone to send their greetings to the Danish FA, where will make sure they are all passed on to Christian and his family.”
The shocking scenes happened towards the end of the first half of the teams’ opening Group B match, with Eriksen receiving 13 minutes of medical treatment.
PRAYERS FOR DANISH ACE
Following the distressing incident the match was abandoned, but was restarted at 7.30PM (GMT), with Finland winning 1-0.
Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand was critical of the decision to resume the match and says his players were put in a ‘tough’ position.
England captain Harry Kane, who is close friends with former Spurs team-mate Eriksen, tweeted: “Chris. I’m sending all my love to you and your family. Stay strong mate.”
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin wished Eriksen a “full and speedy recovery”.
In a statement, the football chief said: “Moments like this put everything in life into perspective.
“I wish Christian a full and speedy recovery and pray his family has strength and faith.
“We would like to thank everyone for the heartfelt greetings to Christian Eriksen from fans, players, the Royal Families from both Denmark and England, international associations, club etc.
Denmark FA statement
“At these times, the unity of the football family is so strong and he and his family carry with them the good wishes and prayers of everyone.
“I heard of fans of both teams chanting his name. Football is beautiful and Christian plays it beautifully.”
Denmark and Finland fans among the 16,000 crowd at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium chanted Eriksen’s name together before the match resumed.
Eriksen collapsed just before half-time as team-mate Joakim Maehle threw the ball to him.
English referee Anthony Taylor signalled immediately for medical staff to come onto the pitch after Eriksen collapsed.
Martin Braithwaite and Thomas Delaney then raced towards their team-mate, as Delaney gestured frantically for emergency medical help.
Eriksen’s distraught colleagues were left in tears as they looked in anxiously.
Shocked supporters watched in horror as Danish physios tended to the ex-Spurs star.
Eriksen was seen being stretchered from the pitch while conscious after emergency paramedics arrived.
The midfielder’s wife, Sabrina Kvist Jensen, was seen in tears and being consoled by Danish players after she rushed down to the pitch.
UEFA announced the match was suspended due to a “medical emergency”.
BBC coverage of the game ended after the distressing scenes were shown to viewers across the country.
But viewers reacted with anger after the coverage didn’t cut away once Eriksen fell to the floor.
A BBC spokesman apologised for broadcasting the upsetting footage.
The spokesman said: “We apologise to anyone who was upset by the images broadcast.
“In-stadium coverage is controlled by Uefa as the host broadcaster, and as soon as the match was suspended, we took our coverage off air as quickly as possible.”