Meet two hero brothers who saved Christian Eriksen’s life after quitting as pro badminton players for life as medics
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN had his life saved thanks to the incredible work of Denmark medics, Uefa doctors, hospital staff and team-mate Simon Kjaer.
The Danish star, 29, was close to being ‘gone’ according to one doc – but was saved by two hero brothers, Morten and Anders Boesen.
Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during his side’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland in horrific scenes.
It was later confirmed Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Medics were praised for their quick work to save the former Tottenham midfielder’s life.
The Denmark ace was given 13 minutes of treatment on the pitch – including CPR and defibrillator shocks – before being rushed to hospital.
In a major boost, it has been confirmed Eriksen is now awake, stable and speaking.
Denmark captain Kjaer first led the charge to save his long-time friend’s life.
The AC Milan centre-back sprinted over to Eriksen after his collapse, cleared his airways and prevented him from swallowing his tongue.
He then ordered his Denmark team-mates to form a protective ring around Eriksen and the medical staff, before consoling his pal’s wife on the touchline.
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While Kjaer was busy shielding Eriksen from the eyes of the world, a pair of Danish brothers were scrambling to save the player’s life.
The Boesen brothers both work for Copenhagen, with Morten the team doctor for both club and country having first taken on the role at the Danish Superliga side in 2004.
He started working with Denmark’s national squad in 2019.
Anders works for Copenhagen’s academy and is also a qualified doctor.
While not officially working with Denmark, he was named Uefa’s independent stadium doctor for the clash with Finland with the game taking place at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium.
As such, the brothers – who are more used to ‘fixing knees than savings lives’, a source told The Athletic – were first on the scene to save Eriksen.
Morten admitted he feared Eriksen was ‘gone’ after seeing him stumble and collapse to the turf with no-one around him.
But after 13 minutes of CPR and the use of a defibrillator, they were able to restart Eriksen’s heart, with the Inter Milan ace awake as he left the pitch to go to hospital for further tests.
BADMINTON BROS
The brothers didn’t initially set out to become doctors though.
In fact, both Morten and Anders were actually professional badminton players earlier in their careers.
Anders even ranked as high as No3 in the WORLD at one stage.
But both swapped rackets and shuttlecocks for a medical kit as they took on roles at Copenhagen, with Morten national team doctor.
After the match, Morten revealed all about the terrifying ordeal in Copenhagen early on in the 1-0 defeat against Finland.
Morten said: “[Eriksen] was gone. And we did cardiac resuscitation. It was a cardiac arrest.
“How close were we? I don’t know. We got him back after one defibrillator. That is quite fast.
“How close were we? I don’t know.”
Morten added: “When I got to him, he was on his side, he was breathing, I could feel a pulse.
“But suddenly that changed and we started to give him CPR. It was clear he was unconscious.
“The help came really fast from the medical team and the rest of the staff with their co-operation.
“We did what we had to do and managed to get Christian back.”