Christian Eriksen is recuperating well in hospital thanks to the swift action of doctors Anders and Martin Boesen, who revived the player after he collapsed from a cardiac arrest.
Both siblings were hailed as heroes after their crucial decision-making helped save the Denmark star's life during a EURO 2020 match between Denmark and Finland.
Interestingly enough, the Boesen siblings were national shuttlers before they became full-fledged doctors.
The 45-year-old Anders, who was the stadium doctor for that Euro 2020 clash against Finland, was an accomplished men’s singles star who scaled the giddy heights of world number three in a career-high.
Anders, who helped Denmark to third place at the 2001 Sudirman Cup and 2002 Thomas Cup, also vanquished Taufik Hidayat who was Indonesia’s rising star as one of his career highlights.
Denmark's chief physician Morten, 47, did not accomplish as much as his younger brother, but was a dedicated shuttler who “loved physical hard sessions”, according to former team-mate Mathias Boe who is now India’s doubles coach.
“Twenty years ago, it was pretty common for all of us to finish degrees alongside badminton and take mandatory lectures in between training sessions,” Boe told The Indian Express.
Other Danish shuttlers such as Peter Rasmussen and Niels Christian Kaldau also studied medicine.
Boe held both Martin and Anders in high regard: “The brothers were fighters as players, and I’m glad they were there for Christian.”
Anders retired in 2004 after reaching his full potential with the Danish national team to pursue medicine and surgery.
Both brothers are working with Danish club FC Copenhagen, with Morten the team doctor for both club and country, and Anders serving as an independent stadium doctor appointed by UEFA for the Euro 2020 tournament.
Badminton had also witnessed episodes of shuttlers suffering from health conditions, with the most significant episode happening to Boe’s partner Carsten Mogensen, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2016.