A teenager has been arrested following the vandalism of a defibrillator kit at a Sussex football club, hours after Denmark’s Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match.
Footage of the incident, captured on Buxted FC’s CCTV early Sunday morning and posted to the club’s Twitter account, was viewed more than 1.1 million times online.
Sussex Police said on Monday they had since arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of criminal damage.
The vandalism took place on hours after Inter Milan footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed shortly before half time in Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 game against Finland.
Busted FC chairman Richard Turner said that the football club had been celebrating winning the mid-Sussex division one league trophy before the vandalism took place. He described the incident as “absolutely disgusting” and “heartbreaking”.
“Everyone at the club is a volunteer, we work hard for what we’ve got, but now we’ll have to raise funds to replace it,” he said.
“Those things save people’s lives and someone has come and trashed it.”
“The whole world saw what happened to Christian Eriksen on Saturday so why would anyone think that’s ok?
Mr Turner added that Buxted FC were “more upset than angry” and added that the community had been “brilliant” in its support of the club, following the incident. He said that many people and local companies had offered help install a new defibrillator free of charge.
Former Tottenham Hotspur star Eriksen received prolonged treatment on the pitch — including chest compressions — before being taken to a hospital where he is recovering.
The Danish team doctor confirmed on Monday that Mr Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest on the field, but that the use of a defibrillator saved his life.
“He was gone. We did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest,” Dr Morten Boesen said.
“How close were we to losing him? I don’t know, but we got him back after one defib, so that’s quite fast.”