AMSTERDAM -- Ajax defender Daley Blind had to be substituted during a preseason warm-up match against Hertha Berlin on Tuesday when his implanted heart defibrillator went off.
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Blind had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, or ICD, fitted after being diagnosed with an inflamed heart muscle late last year.
Blind sat down when the device went off but was able to walk off the pitch to be substituted in the 79th minute.
“He has no symptoms. The ICD went off and right after that he was fine,” Ajax coach Erik ten Hag told Ziggo Sport.
“We’ll do some tests and wait for the results and then make decisions,” he added.
Update @BlindDaley ⤵️
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) August 26, 2020
Daley Blind viel gisteren tijdens Ajax – Hertha BSC uit. Hij voelt zich naar omstandigheden goed en was vanochtend op Sportcomplex de Toekomst. Hij wordt nader onderzocht en wacht de uitslagen van deze onderzoeken af voordat hij de training weer hervat. pic.twitter.com/bDViUO4gnZ
The update from Blind said the following about his current condition:
“Daley Blind was forced to leave the pitch during Ajax - Hertha BSC. The central defender is feeling well, given the circumstances, and was at Sportpark de Toekomst this morning. He will undergo further examinations and await the results of these tests before resuming training.”
Blind had previously given this statement after his heart surgery late in 2019 and he then returned to action in February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic:
“I’m really happy to be back on the pitch. It was heavy period because you don’t know what is coming or which news you will get, but luckily it didn’t take long for everything to look good. I have been positive most of the time and was busy with my return,” Blind said. “I had a little bit of tension beforehand because you don’t know how it will go.
“The doctor really needed to hold me back and step on the brakes because I wanted to get back as soon as possible. I wasn’t scared at all, I wanted to get back on the pitch as fast as possible. I have missed [playing football] a lot. I missed my teammates and I missed being on the pitch. I need to build up now, I am not fully fit to play 90 minutes.”
Ajax won the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena 1-0.
