Barcelona star Martin Braithwaite has spoken of the ‘horrible’ experience of witnessing Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest on Saturday.
The football world came to a halt over the weekend when Denmark and Inter Milan midfielder Eriksen collapsed during a Euro 2020 clash with Finland.
Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest, requiring CPR and the use of a defibrillator on the pitch to save his life.
Thankfully, the Danish star is now recovering in hospital after everyone watching on TV witnessed the haunting moments of his collapse and subsequent treatment.
And Barcelona forward Braithwaite has now spoken of the difficulty in witnessing what happened to teammate and friend Eriksen first-hand.
“I still feel affected by the situation, but what’s most important is that Christian is feeling better and because of this, I am feeling better,” he said in a Denmark press conference.
“Your health is what matters most. It was a horrible experience.
“I had some images that occurred on Saturday that I wanted to get out of my head.”
The Denmark players formed a protective shield around Eriksen while medics were trying to save his life and after cameras persisted to show the incident across world TV as part of the local-led UEFA feed.
Braithwaite and his teammates have been widely praised for their reaction to the circumstances, but the 30-year-old says it felt like a natural reaction.
“It’s difficult to say how it all started, it was as if what happened, happened naturally,” he added.
“We understood that we had to worry about Christian and we tried to do it the best we could.”
Eriksen has sent a determined message from hospital, insisting he ‘won’t give up’ but he says he wants ‘answers’ over the whole situation.
It’s expected that medical professionals will review the incidents over the coming days to determine the cause of the cardiac arrest, meanwhile, the whole footballing world is still breathing a sigh of relief for the midfielder and his family.
