Emails and letters are nice but please don’t send me flowers as I’m still here... & will be back playing soon
CHRISTIAN FOCUS IS NOW ON FITNESS
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN says the time for flowers has to end as he sets about reassuring himself he is the same player he was before his cardiac arrest.
The Denmark international was touched by the support shown after collapsing at the Euro 2020 finals last summer.
But after joining Brentford last month, he revealed he wants things to get back to normal and suggested floral tributes seem a little macabre.
“It’s been weird getting flowers as a token for something you wouldn’t want to happen,” he said. “But I’m here! It’s a nice thought but I’m still here so you don’t need to give me flowers.
“It’s a nice touch for people to give their letters and emails and gifts I’ve received.
“I’m definitely grateful for that but luckily I’m back to normal. First step now is to get some Premier League minutes and afterwards show I can still play football.”
But he believes a debut against Crystal Palace tomorrow may be a bit too soon. “I’m not far off,” he told BBC Sport. “It’s difficult to put a date on it when it’s going to happen, but hopefully in a few weeks’ time.”
It seems a far cry from Copenhagen, when doctors said Eriksen could be considered to have been technically dead for five minutes. “I can remember everything apart from the five minutes,” he said.
“The throw-in, the ball hitting my knee and then I don’t know what happened after. Then I woke up with people around me and felt the pressure on my chest, trying to get my breathing back, and then I woke up.
“I opened my eyes and saw people around me, but didn’t really understand what was going on. It goes through my head – did something happen with my legs, did I break my back? Can I lift my leg up?
“Then in the ambulance I heard someone say, ‘How long was I out for’ and someone said, ‘Five minutes’ and that was the first time
I had heard
I was gone.”