During Denmark’s premier Euro 2020 match against Finland, Danish player Christian Eriksen suddenly collapsed as he suffered a cardiac arrest. And his teammates’ actions in the immediate aftermath of Eriksen’s collapse in Euro 2020 proves why football feels like family.
Christian Eriksen fell in the middle of the pitch after a cardiac arrest while playing in Copenhagen on Saturday.
Collapsing just before halftime, the Danish player ‘was gone,’ according to Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen.
Emergency medics treated Eriksen on the field for a long time before bringing him to the hospital.
Following the incident, UEFA released a statement informing fans that Eriksen was awake and in stable condition at the hospital.
In a news conference, though Boesen provided an additional update.
“Well, he was gone,” he said, as reported by Danish outlet TV2. “We did cardiac resuscitation. And it was cardiac arrest. How close were we [to losing him]? I don’t know.”
“We got him back after one defib, so that’s quite fast,” he added, though.
“None of us know why it happened. This is probably also one of the reasons why he is still in the hospital,” he concluded.
As astonishing as these details, though, are the immediate measures Eriksen’s teammates took to take care of the unmoving player.
Eriksen’s Teammates’ Reactions
All of Christian Eriksen’s teammates immediately rushed to his side when he fell, instantly sensing something was off.
And their combined assistance to him, with the speed at which they acted, was almost certainly a life-saving response.
Chief among the quick-thinkers was Denmark’s captain Simon Kjaer, who was one of the first players to arrive on the scene.
The 32-year-old centre-back first quickly checked for Eriksen’s pulse. He was then seen possibly preventing Eriksen from swallowing his own tongue (read more here) and he also performed CPR.
Kjaer then showed a clear presence of mind in a strenuous situation as he led his teammates toward protective measures.
The captain, truly a leader in every sense, and his team formed a protective ring around Eriksen. They thus ensured that the Inter Milan midfielder and the medics working on him got sufficient privacy from the media.
Thereafter, he escorted Eriksen off the ground along with the medical staff and the rest of his squad.
All this while, Kjaer was constantly trying to making sure that photographers did not get a picture of the playmaker.
He and his teammates did not want their fellow squad member’s most personal and shocking moments to become gossip fodder.
Kjaer then rushed to comfort Eriksen’s partner, Sabrina Kvist, who was reduced to tears at the edge of the touchline.
Indeed, the AC Milan defender was not the first to comfort her as Kasper Schmeichel hurried first to console Sabrina. The goalkeeper spoke in comfort to her as she ran down to the field to be by her partner’s side.
Eriksen’s Collapse in Euro 2020 Proves Why Football Feels Like Family
Seeing these swift and solicitous actions of Eriksen’s Danish teammates has warmed fans’ hearts, amidst their horror over the incident.
They took care of the unconscious player, and rushed to comfort his family as if it was their own.
They even prevented the larger football family, of fans all across the world, from watching horrific scenes of the resuscitation.
And in all this, they moved together, cried together, stood strong, hand in hand, together as a family.
Their prompt and caring behaviour has reaffirmed the core spirit of football – one of family.
This sport accepts all into its wing like family, and in football, we take care of one another as family.
