Jens Kleinefeld, the doctor who helped revive Christian Eriksen, describes the moments after the Inter midfielder was brought back to life. ‘He woke up after the first electric shock.’
Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 debut against Finland last week.
His friend and teammate Simon Kjaer gave him first aid while doctors rushed on the pitch to restore his heartbeat through a defibrillator. Eriksen was stabilised on the pitch and taken to hospital, where he underwent further medical examinations.
The 29-year-old will now have an ICD, a heart starter, which is a “necessary device after a cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances,” Denmark announced.
Repubblica.it interviewed Jens Kleinefeld, the doctor that gave Eriksen CPR on the pitch.
A Eriksen sarà impiantato un defibrillatore. Le prime parole dopo il risveglio: "Ho solo 29 anni, sono tornato con voi" https://t.co/Gm8YsxosqJ via @repubblica
— maurizio crosetti (@m_crosetti) June 17, 2021
“He woke up after the first shock, after not more than 30 seconds. It was a thrilling moment,” the doctor said.
“I asked him: ‘Are you here?’ and he replied: ‘Yes.’
“I will never forget the first thing he said after that ‘yes,'” the doctor continued.
“He opened his eyes, looked at me and added: ‘Damn, I am just 29.’
“It was moving, but at the same time, it was very important because I understood that his brain was not damaged. After that, he just said: ‘I am back with you.
“I don’t think Eriksen’s heart stopped for more than a minute or a minute and a half. Fortunately, the first electric shock that lasted around 30 seconds was enough to restart it. It’s quite unusual to make it happen so quickly.”
Denmark returned to the pitch against Belgium on Thursday, losing 2-1.
The game was stopped after ten minutes to pay tribute to the Inter midfielder. His Inter teammate Romelu Lukaku was on the pitch and looked emotional during the one-minute applause for the 29-year-old.
Video: Lukaku looks emotional as Denmark and Belgium pay tribute to Eriksen