Thanks to the life-saving efforts of the medical staff, he left the pitch conscious and continues to recover in hospital as doctors try to understand what caused his cardiac arrest.

While live TV is, by its very nature, unpredictable, there has been a backlash over the media coverage of the incident, especially live television footage of him receiving CPR and a defibrillator being used to revive him.

As his partner ran on to the pitch, not knowing whether he was alive or dead, cameras zoomed in and panned out as directors tried to work out what was going on and what to do about it. They had to balance recording what was happening with decency.

No one needed to see what unfolded and his teammates rightly formed a circle around him in a bid to keep out prying eyes. Had he died on the pitch, images of his final moments and the frantic efforts of the medical teams were being beamed live around the world and news organisations would have been rightly lambasted.

Part of the sting has been taken out of the backlash of the coverage because the 29-year-old appears to be making a recovery.

But, these days, when streakers invade a sporting field, the cameras now focus on something else entirely and make sure they do not capture any images of the intruder, and that is what should have happened here.

Since Fabrice Muamba’s collapse with a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane in March, 2012, medical protocols have been introduced at sporting arenas around the world to deal with such eventualities. Surely media coverage of these incidents must have been included and broadcasters made aware of them.

While the camera operators and directors finally did the decent thing, it was disappointing to see some fans seated nearby filming the drama on their phones. And while major news organisations chose not to show the distressing scenes their own cameras had captured earlier, it was mobile phone footage that was doing the rounds later.

I agree with the criticism levelled at broadcasters, but those who grabbed their camera phones should be held with the same contempt.

Smart phones have turned everyone into instant videographers and photographers, capturing the world around them as they go about their day. But, unlike news organisations, they are not regulated and have only their own moral compass for direction, which is why whenever there is a bad crash, or someone is being arrested or in distress, it is usually being filmed and will appear on social media imminently, hoping for a viral reaction.

Whenever reporters and photographers arrive at a major incident or breaking news, the insults of ‘bottom feeders’, ‘parasites’, ‘pond life’, etc, are often hurled at them by witnesses and passers by – all armed with their own smart phones and sharing details and images too gory for most newspapers and news channels.

As the Eriksen reaction continued, something on YouTube caught my eye. It was a shooting in the US in which police wounded an armed man who pointed a gun at them in a car park. With the man lying on the ground, officers cautiously approached with guns drawn, shouting instructions to him. Suddenly, there was movement behind a truck as a woman scrambled in front of the officers, lucky not to be shot. And what was she doing? Trying to get a better angle for her video – putting her in the line of fire. The officers didn’t have time for pleasantries and told her in no uncertain terms to move – as she continued to complain about being too far away.

Throughout my newspaper career, I had to make difficult decisions, sometimes in the heat of the moment, but whatever the situation, my aim was to do the right thing, often with the things left unsaid. 

I have worked with people who made no secret of their ruthless streak and hunger for success. Good luck to them. Whether they achieve their goals and whether they are sustainable, I can honestly say that in 22 years, there wasn’t once where I regretted doing the ‘right thing’.

What happened to Christian was distressing and should have been private, but, unfortunately, it happened in a public arena and the media didn’t entirely get it right.

The most important thing in all of this is that Christian makes a full recovery. While he may not play football again, the fact he will be here for his partner and their young children is far more important.

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