Rise in CPR training enquiries in Yorkshire since Christian Eriksen cardiac arrest
Our region's ambulance service says it's made people realise they don't know it
Last updated 18th Jun 2021
Yorkshire Ambulance Service tells us Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest has led to a rise in interest in CPR training.
Tomorrow marks a week since the Denmark player collapsed during a Euro 2020 match and had to get emergency medical treatment on the pitch.
The incident's prompted more people finding out what they can do when someone has a cardiac arrest.
Bob Reville had one in Meadowhall in Sheffield in 2013 - he's says he's only alive now because of a combination of CPR and a defibrillator:
"I was just having my dinner and then the next thing I literally just dropped to the floor - fell off the stool and dropped to the floor. Luckily for me there was a nurse sitting close by that saw me fall.
"The security guys got to me very quickly and also I was right next to a defibrillator. They were able to get to me very quickly, use the defibrillator and bring me back.
"They did tell me afterwards if I'd been in the football grounds, Meadowhall or the bus or train stations, I stood a good chance of surviving it. But if I'd have been anywhere else I wouldn't have survived it unless there was someone close by who could do CPR."
29 year old Christian Ericksen is still in hospital after his collapse last weekend and will now get a heart-starting device fitted because of his heart rhythm.
Bob tells us it was hard for him to watch and shows how important defibrillators are:
"I saw the pictures of him fall and I knew straight away what it was. It was very good to see the medical response straight away and you thought there's going to be a good chance he's going to be ok - he's got the best chance possible. But it was very difficult to watch - it did shake me up a bit.
"We need to get a lot more defibrillators out there. I would appeal to anybody if they own a business, please please please have a look into fitting one. If it is used, the chances are it's going to be used to save a life that wouldn't already be saved."
Yorkshire Ambulance Service wants more people to know lifesaving CPR skills - it goes into schools across the region every year to teach them children for Restart a Heart Day.
Dave Jones from there says the incident last weekend made people really stop and think:
"It was live on TV so it was seen by millions of people not just in Yorkshire but across the world. And it spurred a lot of people into realising that they don't know how to do CPR and maybe they should learn it.
"If somebody's laid on the floor not breathing, at that point in their world, nothing else can be any worse. So you doing chest compressions and possibly breaking a couple of ribs isn't the end of the world.
"We can repair ribs but we can't fix dead. So that early CPR is vital."
There's more information on CPR here.