A Heartfelt Crisis
Christian Eriksen endured another alarming health episode on Sunday afternoon while playing for Denmark in an international friendly against Ukraine. The midfielder collapsed on the pitch during the 65th minute, clutching his chest and falling to the ground. Medical personnel swiftly rushed to his aid, providing immediate care before he was taken to the hospital. Although he briefly lost consciousness, Eriksen was able to walk off the pitch in Odense and is now reportedly “doing well.” According to national team doctor Morten Boesen, he is expected to be discharged soon.
A Recurring Threat
This incident comes five years after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 during Denmark’s group stage match against Finland in June 2021. His heart stopped for approximately five minutes, but timely CPR from team-mate Simon Kjaer proved crucial in saving his life. A defibrillator was used on the pitch at Parken in Copenhagen, and Eriksen eventually regained consciousness before being stretchered off and rushed to the hospital.
There, he received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which can detect dangerous heart rhythms and deliver corrective electrical shocks if necessary. This device acts like a pacemaker but is designed for fast arrhythmia. Eriksen had this fitted because his heart’s natural electrical system was unable to maintain a safe or effective heartbeat, aiming to reduce the risk of future cardiac arrests.
However, the exact underlying cause of the cardiac arrest was never identified, with Eriksen’s condition remaining undiagnosed. Despite this, he made a remarkable recovery, returning to top-level football just eight months later by joining Brentford in 2022. This followed the termination of his contract with Inter Milan due to Italian regulations prohibiting players with pacemakers from competing.
Eriksen made an emotional return to the Danish national team two months later and joined Manchester United that summer, where he played for three years. He spent the last season at Wolfsburg, making 34 appearances as the club faced a historic relegation from the Bundesliga.
Uncertain Future
The future of Eriksen’s playing career now hangs in the balance after what is suspected to have been another heart episode. It appears that his pacemaker detected potentially life-threatening arrhythmia and delivered a shock, prompting him to clutch his chest. “As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should,” said Boesen. “He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.”
This is yet to be confirmed, and doctors are exploring all possibilities. They will examine the pacemaker to determine if it functioned correctly. Eriksen may also have a better chance of receiving a diagnosis, as experts closely examine the heart activity recorded by his ICD before he collapsed.
“He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident,” added Boesen. “We are in constant contact with him and the doctors at the hospital.”
Reflections on Survival
Eriksen has spoken candidly about his experience of cardiac arrest in 2021, telling the BBC that he remembered “everything apart from the five minutes” he was unconscious. “I remember the throw-in, the ball hitting my knee and then I don’t know what happened after,” he said. “Then I woke up with people around me and felt the pressure on my chest, trying to get my breathing back, and then I woke up – I opened my eyes and saw people around me, I didn’t really understand what was going on.”
“At that time I had no idea what had happened, then it goes through my head: ‘Did something happen with my legs? Did I break my back? Can I lift my leg up?’ – all small things I was trying to do to see what happened. Then in the ambulance I heard someone say: ‘How long was he out for?’ and someone said: ‘Five minutes,’ and that was the first time I had heard I was gone.”
Eriksen has not yet provided an update on his current health status but is expected to do so in due course. He and his family are reported to be in “good spirits.”
