Christian Eriksen admits the response to his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 was ‘extraordinary’

Christian Eriksen has praised the ‘extraordinary’ response from fans who sent flowers and messages to him following his cardiac arrest on June 12 last year. 

Eriksen suffered the cardiac arrest during Denmark’s clash with Finland at Euro 2020 and received life-saving treatment on the pitch at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium as his distraught partner Sabrina Kvist Jensen looked on.

He was then taken to a nearby hospital, where he was fitted with an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator).

Christian Eriksen has praised the ‘extraordinary’ response from fans after his cardiac arrest

Eriksen suffered the cardiac arrest during Denmark’s clash with Finland at Euro 2020

And it was during his time in hospital that Eriksen said he received the ‘very nice’ but ‘weird’ worldwide response, admitting he did not expect it just because he had ‘died for five minutes’.

‘It was amazing that so many people felt a need to write or send flowers,’ he said in an interview with Danish outlet DR.

‘It had an impact on so many people, and they felt a need to let me and my family know. That makes me very happy. 

‘At the hospital, they kept saying I’d received more and more flowers. It was weird, because I didn’t expect people to send flowers because I’d died for five minutes.

After live-saving treatment on the field, he was taken to hospital, where he was fitted with an ICD

‘It was quite extraordinary, but it was very nice of everyone, and it’s been a big help to me to receive all those best wishes, and people still write to me.

‘I’ve thanked people I’ve met in person. I’ve thanked the doctors, my team-mates and their families in person. 

‘But all the fans who have sent thousands of letters and emails and flowers, or who have come up to me in the street – both in Italy and Denmark – I thank them all for their support I got all over the world that helped me through this.’

In a tweet in which he posted part of the interview, he wrote: ‘It’s been a while. I hope this video explains how I feel towards all the messages, letters, mails, flowers, thoughts and everything else I’ve got! Thank you for all the love.’

The Danish playmaker has been working alone at Swiss club Chiasso in recent weeks as he targets a return to club football following his release by Inter Milan.

The Serie A champions ended his contract last month by mutual consent, because playing with a heart defibrillator is banned in Italy.

But such rules do not apply elsewhere and Eriksen hopes to resume training with a European club in January after a series of medical tests last month was cleared to resume his competitive career.

Sportsmail understands he has interest from the Premier League, as well as from clubs in Denmark and Holland.

Eriksen is hoping to join a new club this month after being released by Inter Milan last month

‘It is going really well for Christian,’ the playmaker’s representative Martin Schoots told Sportsmail. ‘He had all the checks just before Christmas and the results were so good that we expect him to be involved in a group training with a team some time later in January.

‘But I would prefer Christian to talk about this himself and he will do so very soon. Christian is very ambitious. Italy is one of the only countries with these regulations. 

‘In other countries it is very different. His contract with Inter has been terminated and now we can look forward.’