Eighteen months have passed since Christian Eriksen’s dramatic collapse on the pitch at Euro 2020, an incident that stunned the footballing world.
The Danish midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest during his country’s game against Finland in June 2021. Quick-thinking medical staff administered life-saving treatment, eventually resuscitating Eriksen and rushing him to the hospital.
Fans inside the stadium and around the globe watched in shock as Eriksen’s teammates formed a protective circle around him during his fight for life.
These scenes bore an eerie resemblance to the recent incident involving Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who also collapsed on the field due to cardiac arrest. The Bills reported that Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field, and he remains in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital.
In both cases, swift intervention by medical teams was crucial. Buffalo Bills team trainers reached Hamlin within 10 seconds of his collapse, mirroring the rapid response of the team doctors who saved Eriksen’s life.
“Well, what should I say? He was gone,” Denmark’s team doctor Morten Boesen recounted. “And we did cardiac resuscitation, and it was cardiac arrest. How close were we? I don’t know.”
Eriksen later received an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), a device designed to prevent fatal cardiac arrests by restoring regular heart rhythm with a jolt. Remarkably, he returned to professional football.
The Denmark-Finland match was restarted the same evening at the players’ request, and Eriksen, conscious and waving, was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. A statement from the Danish Football Federation confirmed he was awake in the hospital and awaiting further examination.
Hamlin’s case, while similar, had differences in public communication. A representative for Hamlin’s family clarified that the NFL player was resuscitated just once on the field, correcting an earlier statement from Hamlin’s uncle, who mistakenly reported two resuscitations.
The decision to resume Denmark’s match was later questioned by Denmark’s head coach, Kasper Hjulmand, who expressed that it might have been a mistake. “It was very tough for the players,” he said.
“They didn’t even know if they could probably lose their best friend. I have the feeling that we shouldn’t have played and wrong that the players had to decide. I’m really proud of the way the world reacted to this incident. It’s often about money, but yesterday we saw what football is all about – compassion and love.”