Eriksen, 29, who suffered cardiac arrest in Denmark’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland on Saturday, needs to be fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator — a battery-powered device that sends an electric shock if an abnormal heart rate is detected, the national team’s physician said in a statement.

“After Christian has been through different heart examinations it has been decided that he should have an ICD (heart starter),” doctor Morten Boesen said. “This device is necessary after a cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances.”

Eriksen, who was resuscitated with a defibrillator after getting CPR from Boesen on the pitch, has “accepted the solution,” according to the statement.

“The plan has moreover been confirmed by specialists nationally and internationally who all recommend the same treatment,” Boesen continued. “We encourage everybody to give Christian and his family pace and privacy the following time.”

ICDs can prevent sudden deaths in people with ventricular tachycardia – or a fast, abnormal heart rate, according to the American Heart Association.

“Newer-generation ICDs may have a dual function which includes the ability to serve as a pacemaker,” according to the group’s website. “The pacemaker feature would stimulate the heart to beat if the heart rate is detected to be too slow.”

Thin wires connect the implanted device to a patient’s heart and an electric shock is delivered if an abnormal heart rhythm is detected. A battery-powered pulse generator roughly the size of a pocket watch is typically implanted just below the collarbone, according to AHA’s website.

Those living with ICDs can “most likely” resume a “near normal lifestyle,” according to the AHA.

Reuters reported that Eriksen may potentially return with the ICD — as a defender for Netherlands, Daley Blind, still plays professionally for Ajax after being fitted for the device following his diagnosis of an inflamed heart muscle in 2019.

But Eriksen, who plays for Inter Milan, will need special permission to return to the team since Italian FA rules bar players from competing with internal defibrillators, according to ESPN.

Eriksen received a moving tribute as Denmark took on Belgium Thursday in Copenhagen, where he’s recovering at a hospital just several hundred yards away, ESPN reported.

The ball was booted out of play at the 10-minute mark in a nod to Eriksen’s national team number as Denmark and Belgium led fans in the stirring tribute.

“All of Denmark is with you, Christian,” one massive sign read.

Belgium went on to win Thursday’s match 2-1, clinching a spot in the Round of 16.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Joshua Rhett Miller

Keith Appling — who played for Michigan State from 2010-14, leading the squad in scoring in his junior season — was arraigned Thursday on murder and felony firearm charges in the May 22 shooting death of Clyde Edmonds during a dispute over a gun, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said she considered Appling’s post-professional basketball playing days to be a “tragic” fall for someone with “so much promise, talent and possibility” who is now accused in the “most serious of crimes.”

“It has been clear that this man has been spiraling downward for some time,” Worthy said. “Many of those that tried to intervene with this defendant were hoping that he would get on the right track and stay there.”

Appling, a former McDonald’s All-American, is accused of shooting Edmonds, 66, at a home in Detroit. Edmonds’ wife is the first cousin of Appling’s mother, the Detroit News reported.

The deadly confrontation occurred following a dispute over a handgun, police have said. Appling’s girlfriend, Natalie Brooks Bannister, is also facing charges in the case for allegedly driving him away from the scene and lying to investigators. The ex-MSU star has been ordered not to contact her as the case proceeds, the Free Press reported.

Appling, 29, is also facing separate charges in Jackson County for assault with intent to do bodily harm less than murder and felony firearm in a May 2 incident, court records show.

Thursday’s court appearance marked the latest legal troubles for Appling, who was sentenced to 18 months of probation in December after cops found heroin in his car. He was also ordered to spend a year in jail in 2017 after pleading guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and obstructing a police officer in Wayne County, the Free Press reported.

Appling, who was named Michigan Mr. Basketball in 2010, spent some time in the NBA’s G League and played five games for the Orlando Magic during the 2015-16 season. He most recently played professionally in Italy in 2019, the newspaper reported.

A not guilty plea was entered on Appling’s behalf Thursday. A judge then ordered him held without bond in the Wayne County Jail ahead of his scheduled court date on June 22, according to the report.

Appling’s former coach at Michigan State, Tom Izzo, said he has not spoken with him since his arrest, the Free Press reported Wednesday.

“I’m trying to reserve, trying not to do what the world does and make him guilty until he’s proven it,” said Izzo, who visited Appling in jail in 2017. “And yet, everything I hear, it’s not great.”

The charges facing Appling are “sad,” the coaching legend said.

“I hope and pray to God that it’s not true,” Izzo continued. “But I have no knowledge of anything, except that I was trying to help him get back on track as were more than a few other people.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Joshua Rhett Miller