June 18, (THEWILL)- It was a remarkable development for the European football competition when Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen was discharged from hospital, less than a week after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch in their first match against Finland.
Fortunately, team medical staff restarted the 29-year-old’s heart on the pitch and quickly transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator capable of shocking his heart into a regular rhythm to keep him going.
The procedure was successful and the Danish FA have now confirmed that Eriksen has been permitted to leave hospital to be with his family to continue his recovery.
The FA statement on Twitter read: “Christian Eriksen has been through a successful operation and was today discharged from Righospitalet.
“Today, he also visited the national team in Helsingor – and from there he will go home and spend time with his family.”
The player Eriksen himself was grateful: “Thank you for the massive number of greetings – it has been incredible to see and feel. The operation went well, and I am doing well under the circumstances.
“It was really great to see the guys again after the fantastic game they played last night. No need to say, that I will be cheering them on Monday against Russia.”
All these come shortly after German doctor Jens Kleinfeld revealed how he rushed from the stands to help restart Eriksen’s heart, sharing the traumatic events of the midfielder’s resuscitation: “He opened his eyes and spoke to me. I asked him, in English: ‘Are you back again?’ He said: ‘Yes, I am here.’ And then he said: ‘Oh s**t, I’ve only just turned 29 years old.’
“I told him that everything was now OK and he was not in danger any more. He understood everything immediately and straight away put his arm on his chest.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
