Tottenham players Eric Dier and Sergio Reguilon were jointly awarded the Man of the Match award against Newcastle United for their quick-thinking actions in dealing with the medical emergency
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Tottenham duo Sergio Reguilon and Eric Dier were jointly awarded the Man of the Match award against Newcastle United following their quick-thinking actions in a medical emergency.
The two players ensured the game was called to a halt amid an unfolding incident in the stands at St. James’s Park in which a fan was taken ill.
Spurs full-back Reguilon alerted referee Andre Marriner that there was a serious incident unfolding and suggested that the match be stopped to help aid the situation.
The Spaniard’s teammate Dier was responsible for ensuring that a defibrillator – which was on the side-lines – was able to make its way into the stands with a medical team to help the stricken fan.
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Action Images via Reuters)
The incident near the end of the first half led to the match being suspended with the fan subsequently stabilised by medics before being rushed to hospital.
Spurs won the game 3-2 at St. James’s Park despite Callum Wilson’s early opener as first-half goals from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son turned the game on its head.
Despite Dier’s late own goal, the visitors held on to a well-deserved victory against an underwhelming Newcastle side who finished with 10 men after substitute Jonjo Shelvey’s red card.
Yet the most important incident of the game saw the visiting side’s players make swift and decisive actions to ensure medical urgent aid was administered.
Reguilon told Sky Sports after the game: “I heard the fans say ‘stop, stop.
“I said look at the guy he’s lying down he’s not good and to please stop the game.
“I saw one guy lying down and one man like this [making CPR gestures] I was nervous so I went to the referee and said we cannot play, stop the match, the referee and the linesman. Now I think he is okay?
“That is what is more important.”
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Spurs striker Harry Kane added of the situation: “We heard the fans screaming.
“First and foremost best wishes to the guy in the stands, obviously not a good sight to see but we hear that he might be stable now, so we’re thankful to the emergency teams, the fans who were doing CPR, hopefully he’s okay and we wish him all the best from Tottenham.
“I think from our point of view we know there are defibs on the side of the bench obviously we don’t know if they have that in the stands.
“I think Eric went over just to ask if they’ve got one, it was devastating to see we wish him all the best and the fans to see that, from our point of view hope everyone’s okay.”
This came just four months after the harrowing incident in Copenhagen which saw Christian Eriksen suddenly collapse and require CPR during Denmark’s opening game of Euro 2020 against Finland.
The importance of acting speedily and correctly is more important than ever, with every second counting to potentially save a life.
Just as with Eriksen’s Denmark teammates Simon Kjaer and Kasper Schmeichel, along with that match’s referee Anthony Taylor and others, the quick reactions of Reguilon and Dier to alert the referee Marriner to the incident and ensure medical equipment was brought to the stricken fan was vital.
