Vandals smash defibrillator at football club just hours after Christian Eriksen’s collapse

The CCTV footage of the incident has been viewed over 1 million times.

A football club in Sussex has released footage of vandals smashing up a defibrillator kit at the club just hours after Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s clash with Finland in the European Championships.

Buxted FC in East Sussex shared the footage, which was captured in the early hours of Sunday morning, on Twitter. At the time of writing, the clip has been viewed over 1.1 million times.

The club tweeted: Last night at 12:50am, our defib was vandalised. It was caught on CCTV so if anyone has any information about who these two people are then please report it Sussex Police. The CAD Number is 551-13.06.2021.

https://twitter.com/BuxtedFC/status/1404154973265530884

Sussex Police have said that they are investigating the incident, and have arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of criminal damage.

We are investigating a report of a defibrillator being damaged and stolen at Buxted FC on 13 June.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.

We're aware of a video circulating online and would ask the public not to post speculative comments. pic.twitter.com/a8eJbhQk8W

— Sussex Police (@sussex_police) June 14, 2021

The footage was also shared by Martin Kemp, who tweeted: “I rarely get upset, angry or surprised by people’s behaviour but this is the pits!!! I hope they will be disgusted with themselves when they get caught!!”

I rarely get upset, angry or surprised by people’s behaviour but this is the pits!!!
I hope they will be disgusted with themselves when they get caught!! https://t.co/soOEe8QNOe

— Martin Kemp (@realmartinkemp) June 13, 2021

The incident happened just hours after Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest whilst playing for Denmark, with medics performing CPR on him on the pitch. The presence of a defibrillator at the game is likely to have been a key factor in saving his life.

Richard Turner, the chairman of Buxted FC, condemned the people responsible.

He told the BBC: “I feel absolutely disgusted that people would do something like this to a bit of equipment that could save someone’s life.

“We all know how important defibrillators are, proved yesterday to a professional player. That saved his life yesterday.

“Now the club hasn’t got one until we get a replacement, so lives are at risk because you never know what’s going to happen.”