When ex-Derby footballer Mark O’Brien sat watching Christian Eriksen’s terrifying health scare live, it “frightened” the Irishman into turning his TV off.
O’Brien was preparing for his second open heart surgery which had forced him to quit the game when Eriksen went down at Euro 2020 last summer.
Now remarkably eight months after suffering a cardiac arrest playing for Denmark against Finland, Eriksen is back playing football.
The Dane made his debut for Brentford in the Premier League last weekend and is set to feature in Saturday's crunch clash at Norwich.
Former Rams, Luton and Newport defender O’Brien is thrilled to see Eriksen,30, back on the pitch.
But he just now hopes Eriksen’s footballing future is determined freely by the player himself and not forced upon him ill health.
Like Eriksen, O’Brien battled back to play pro football after a huge health scare when, as a teenager, a routine scan in 2009 picked up a defective heart valve which needed replacing.
The operation was successful to allow him to resume his career at Derby, where he went on to make 32 appearances after coming through the ranks.
But when the same valve needed replacing in 2020 it meant the end of O’Brien’s career at League Two Newport aged just 27.
O’Brien reflected: “I was at home in Ireland watching that exact match and when I saw what was going on it frightened me.
“It brought the reality of thinking: 'that could have been me'.
“I had to switch the TV off and kind of just shut myself down.
“Eriksen must be elated to be back on the pitch but there must be some self-doubt in his mind too.
“It is a great achievement to go through his life-threatening experience and get back.
“It goes to show what a passion football is to people - it is not just a job.
“Hopefully he gets to finish out his career on his terms rather than it be taken away from it.
“The first time I had my operation it was to get back for the sake of my career.
“When my valve was initially replaced it was a pig skin valve which is a tissue valve.
“They never knew if it was going to last a year or however long.
“Luckily enough I got 11 years out of it but when the valve gave way, I had tiredness , fatigue and palpitations.
“This time around it was a metallic valve so my heart is now fixed but the reason I can’t play football is the medication I am on.
“I am on warfarin, which is a blood thinner, which means I can’t play contact sport.
“Second time I went for the option which was going to prolong my life rather than give myself the best chance to play football.
“I had to learn the hard way that there is more to life than football.”
After the early end of his playing days , O’Brien admits to depression and health anxiety but the former Derby player has battled back to prominence.
The Dubliner has just started working as a keynote speaker inspiring others with his sporting career despite his set-backs.
He was among the delegates this week on the 'Bespoke Elite Speaker Training' programme created and founded by England rugby international Leon Lloyd and former Premier League football Paul McVeigh, which trains and develops successful individuals from the worlds of sport, business, military and TV to become keynote speakers.
O'Brien added: “I have loved it and it has been one of the best experiences since I retired from football two years ago.
“I can look back on areas of my life and career that I think is normal for me but that can impact someone else and inspire and help them.
“That is what I am looking to do to be that person that somebody can look at and think if he can do it, so can I.
“Or be that person who helps people.
“I have two years now since retirement to get my head around it.
“The first thing I had was all the depression and health anxiety.
“It is not always rosy, I have needed a lot longer time than what was expected.
“I have gone down that route of feeling sorry for myself and heading to a depression and ended up with anxieties where I never understood what they were and panic attacks.
“I think I was being harsh on myself in one sense but I was expecting more of myself when you come from a football basis.
“Now I am in a good place but it has taken time to get to there.”
