Christian Eriksen returns to action 8 months after collapse at Euro Cup
Christian Eriksen is back on the pitch.
On Saturday, the Denmark midfielder made his first appearance in a competitive game since suffering a cardiac arrest at the Euros just eight months ago.
Eriksen, 30, came on as a 52nd-minute substitute for Brentford — his new club in the Premier League — in its 2-0 loss to Newcastle, marking a return that many thought would never happen after his frightening on-field collapse during Denmark’s opening game against Finland last June.
The applause as Eriksen came on was momentous. Even Newcastle's players joined in.
"I’m one happy man," Eriksen said after the game.
"To go through what I’ve been through, being back is a wonderful feeling."
Brentford signed Eriksen in the January transfer window. He had been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which meant he had to leave Serie A team Inter Milan due to Italian regulations, making him a free agent.
Often, the concern in contact sports is damage to the ICD through incidental impacts that occur during the normal course of participation in the sport, which can damage the ICD without the patient knowing and possibly cause it to fail if later called into action for a cardiac event, per Sporting News.
Here's how the soccer world responded to Eriksen's return:
