Football. More important than life or death? Not yesterday.
As Scotland and every other nation in Euro 2020 looked forward to a month-long feast of football after the toughest of years, we were given a stark reminder of just how fast things can change.
Christian Eriksen, Denmark’s star player, collapsed on the pitch during the Denmark vs Finland match and we all held our breath.
The horror on the faces of his teammates, the agony of his wife as she watched him being given CPR and the tearful fans in the stadium covering their eyes stunned us into silence.
Patrice Muamba, the player who collapsed during a match and survived nine years ago, said simply on social media what every football fan was thinking: “Please God.”
And almost every Scotland fan watching the horror unfold would have thought of one of ours. Phil O’Donnell, who had once worn the navy blue shirt of our national team and who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Motherwell against Dundee United in 2007. The images of him being treated at the side of the pitch are seared in most fans’ minds. He had been just 35.
After Eriksen was stretchered o the pitch, he regained consciousness and, according to reports, is now stable in hospital. And the game was resumed later as both sets of players agreed after hearing he was doing well.
We don’t know yet what happened or why.
But for those awful few moments, no one cared about results or the pomp and ceremony of a football tournament.
Like everything in the last year, we were reminded again of what really is important.
Lifeline for addicts
Hamilton Accies chief executive Colin McGowan also knows what is important.
To help reduce Scotland’s drug and addictions deaths, he wants to turn part of their stadium into a rehabilitation centre for drug, alcohol and gambling addicts.
While First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her eye had been taken o the ball on rising drug deaths, Colin luckily has not taken his off.
An ex-addict himself, he believes that football clubs, the beating heart of our communities, have the power to help.
His team, relegated from the Premiership last month, have outlined plans to home up to 40 people recovering from substance abuse at its Lanarkshire stadium.
The £6million Recovery and Wellbeing Village will include a 20-bed rehab centre in the club’s north stand. And further 20 “support and transition” self-contained flats are ear-marked for the ground around the stadium.
It’s a remarkable plan from a man who knows what he is talking about.
Bank on Indiana
He’s two years shy of his 80th birthday, yet Harrison Ford can still pull off the fedora and bullwhip.
The images of him lming Indiana Jones 5 near Melrose in the Borders take you right back to the 80s when the movie franchise was at its height and he was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Even then, despite the craggy face and surly on-screen attitude, Dr Jones, the unlikeliest of leading men, was box office gold.
And it looks like Hollywood, which loves a sequel, is banking on him again.
