Dr. Michael Conway who is a consultant cardiologist at St Luke’s Hospital says the Kilkenny panel for the “four in a row” in the 2000s was tested following the death of Cormac McAnallen.
The Tyrone footballer died in 2004 from an undetected heart condition at the age of 24.
Speaking on The Way It Is programme on KCLR, Dr Conway said:
“It was the thing that happened to Cormac McAnallen back in the day in the 2000s when he perished playing Gaelic football”.
“In our hospital in St Luke’s, we were asked to screen the Kilkenny panel for the four in a row that time and it was all triggered by that similar episode but unfortunately Cormac didn’t make it”.
Witnessing
Dr. Conway says sudden adult death and cardiac arrest are quite common and said Christian Eriksen’s incident was an awful thing to witness.
“I know exactly the feelings of those that had to cope with this situation”.
“That’s the type of situation that does happen locally, and tragically down the years there have been a number of episodes where this sudden adult death has afflicted people locally, it happens in Ireland”.
He said his teammates did everything right on the night when it came to shielding their player and also the CPR that was administered and the defibrillator.
Regular tests
He’s looked back at the incident and read up about it and says Christian would have been screened up to 2019 and had been perfectly well.
“Players get a number of tests, exercise tests, and more but whether they take it further, with coronary arteries and that is unlikely” he added.
Fine under the circumstances
Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen says he is “fine under the circumstances” and posted a picture from his hospital bed with a thumbs-up as he made his first comment since suffering a cardiac arrest.
The Denmark midfielder, 29, collapsed in Saturday’s game with Finland and had to be resuscitated on the pitch.
Eriksen has thanked fans from around the world for their support.
“Now, I will cheer on the boys on the Denmark team in the next matches,”
Listen back to the interview below from The Way It Is with Sue Nunn.
