REPUBLIC OF IRELAND manager Stephen Kenny has spoken for the first time about his harrowing collapse after an U21s qualifier game in Sweden in 2019.
The FAI released a statement at the time to say Kenny had not travelled home with the squad and had been admitted to hospital, having taken ill on the journey home from the game.
The Irish manager has tonight revealed the details of the collapse for the first time. Speaking to Nathan Murphy of Off the Ball, Kenny said images of Christian Eriksen’s on-pitch collapse brought back memories of his 2019 ordeal.
“It was very striking seeing Christian Eriksen, it was very traumatic. Looking at it on the TV, I got the impression he may have died. I wasn’t sure but the question mark was there.
“It brought back my own situation which I haven’t spoken about before, which was two years ago. With the Ireland U21s we played Sweden – we won 3-1 and it was a great performance – and the following morning, I wasn’t feeling well on the bus to the airport.
“At the airport I had a not dissimilar incident to Christian Eriksen. It was quite an ordeal.
“At the time, the doctor, Ronan Kearney, funnily enough he chose that weekend to get married, which was nice of him. We had a new doctor in, Mortimer O’Connor who stepped up from the U17s. It was a baptism of fire for Mortimer and he did brilliantly.
“I wasn’t feeling well, and I just collapsed. I’ve been informed since that Damien Doyle did CPR while the doctor got the defibrillator. The paramedics in the airport were on the scene very quickly.
“All of the players had gone through, and some staff, it was just a certain number of staff that had stayed with myself because they knew I wasn’t well. The players didn’t see it because they had gone through to get the flight, but there was a big scene at the airport.
“I was subsequently informed it was an electrical issue with my heart, there was a block, really, of electricity that the heart needs. It was traumatic at the time, for everyone.”
Kenny paid tribute to the medical and coaching staff around him.
“Looking at Christian Eriksen’s situation, I got serious flashbacks and saw the impact it had on the people around me. Luckily, I had people around me: staff and colleagues and friends.
“Keith Andrews, Jim Crawford, Damien Doyle, Colm O’Neill, the physical therapist: they were all in the vicinity at the time and were all trying to address the situation.
“Obviously it was very, very serious. They couldn’t get a pulse and couldn’t get a heartbeat. Apparently I turned blue, so it was a serious situation.
“Jim Crawford said to me the following morning, ‘I’m not going to lie to you Stephen. I thought you were dead.’
“Kieran Crowley the press officer got on the flight with the players and he said at the time it was the longest flight of his life. He got on the flight and he thought I might be dead.
“I am very grateful, I had great medical care. The staff were amazing. Once I saw the Christian Eriksen situation I started to reflect on it, and I started just ringing them, and wondering how it affected them. We nearly moved on from it, all of us. They had their anecdotal stories, they didn’t think I was going to survive.”
Kenny revealed he had a pacemaker fitted in hospital in Sweden.
“I reflect and I am very fortunate. At that time my children were 13, 15, 18 and 20. I can’t imagine the things I would have missed. It has been a blessing for me. I would have missed out on so much over the last couple of years, I am really grateful.”
You can listen to the interview in full here.
