Copenhagen: Simon Kjær was the epitome of a true leader leading a pack and a perfect teammate on Saturday. The Dane deserved all the accolades to have kept his cool and possibly saving the life of his teammate Christian Eriksen who collapsed during their EURO 2020 encounter against Finland.
The incident happened five minutes before halftime when Eriksen suddenly collapsed on the ground due to a myocardial infraction. Kjær, who was nearby, made sure his teammate doesn’t swallow his tongue and held him in the right position. He also stabilized Eriksen on his back, cleared his airways and started CPR before medics arrived.
SIMON KJÆR. WHAT A LEGEND. WHAT A HERO. ❤️🙏🏻
He made sure that Eriksen didn’t swallow his tongue when he was unconscious, he made sure Eriksen was in the right position, got the squad to surround Eriksen so the media didn’t continue filming/capturing him. pic.twitter.com/I10OtDebQI
— AZR Organization (@AzrOrganization) June 12, 2021
Medics followed soon after, as Eriksen was treated on the field. CPR and electrical shocks were used to resurrect him. During this time Kjær and the team safeguard and covered Eriksen so that the media couldn’t take pictures as Eriksen received his treatments.
Simon Kjaer with the Eriksen family 😢♥️#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/nwFe0hkZni
— موسى (@MousaQi) June 12, 2021
Meanwhile, Eriksen’s wife arrived on the pitch and Kjær was there to comfort her as well. As she broke down following her plight, Kjær stayed by her side all the while Eriksen was being resurrected.
The collective effort was all answered as Eriksen was reported as stable and even talking. He received further treatment from Rigshospitalet. Eriksen also facetimed with his teammates just before the restart of the match and asked them to play.
Although Denmark lost the match 0-1, the Reds were a clear winner on humanitarian grounds. Joel Pohjanpalo scored for Finland on 59 minutes.
