Sudden Cardiac Arrest on the Global Stage

Last Saturday, we all witnessed Danish soccer star, Christian Eriksen suffer a cardiac arrest in the 42nd minute of the match.

We also witnessed the chain of survival in action, including quick thinking and heroic efforts by team captain Simon Kjaer. 

Kjaer sprinted the length of the pitch, secured Eriksen’s neck, ensured his airways were cleared and started CPR prior to the medics arriving. He then led his teammates in forming a protective ring around Eriksen, who was receiving life-saving treatment.

Morten Boesen, Denmark’s team doctor later confirmed, “it was a cardiac arrest. He was gone and we did cardiac resuscitation. We got him back after one defibrillation.” Thankfully Eriksen is stable and gave us the thumbs up from the hospital yesterday.

Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, even the fittest athletes in the world. And although preventive measures like EKG and Echocardiogram heart tests can detect irregularities, not everything is detectable, as we saw on Saturday.

This brought back flashbacks of when I lost my best friend and UW soccer teammate to a sudden cardiac arrest in 2015. 

And I want to use this as an opportunity to thank so many people that have helped me build awareness about sudden cardiac arrest through the DP Open, our annual golf tournament, over the last 5 years. 

https://dpopen.com/

If there’s one thing you take away from this post, please take action by learning CPR and how to use an AED and download PulsePoint AED app so you can always find an AED nearby. 

Thank you to all the generous and kind people below:

Shanti Lang, The Phelps family, Jordan Stephens, Ross Gardner, Nikola Lakic, Darla Varrenti, Jonathan Drezner, Nick Loveless, Rudy Wilingham, Valerie Phelps, Nate Rodriguez, Mike Vorel, Taylor Hoss and Jamie Clark.

And of course, all the DP Open captains, golfers, partners, donors, volunteers and supporters over the years!

If you have questions about SCA, please don't hesitate to reach out [email protected]