‘Life itself is a great option' – James Taylor’s piece of advice for Christian Eriksen after the latter’s cardiac arrest in Euro 2020 match

Former England batter James Taylor was one of the most unlucky players to have not played for the Three Lions for eight to ten years. The right-hand batsman had a promoting start to his career as he scored 1,199 runs across ODI and Tests before a fatal heart condition put an end to his career as a player.

Taylor got to know about his serious heart condition in pre-season training with Nottinghamshire at Cambridge just after he had finally established himself, at 26 in the England Test Team. The 31-year-old started to slowly get back to normal by taking it one day at a time.

He started to focus more on little lifestyle changes and turned a corner by improving his heart condition. He last played for England in 2016 against South Africa and since then has followed the team closely thereby becoming a selector as well.

Taylor also offered a piece of advice to Christain Eriksen, who collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest during a match against Finland in the Euro Cup 2020. The former right-handed batter reached out to him and helped him deal with the heart condition.

“It’s going to be an incredibly emotional time for him and he’ll have so many questions,” said the England cricketer, who almost died through a serious heart condition.

The 31-year-old also spoke about how he was almost about to die only to be rescued in time by the doctors which gave his life a new meaning altogether.

‘”I should have died. The cardiologists had never seen anyone present what I did so I was incredibly lucky. Just as Christian is. And it does put things in perspective. It allows me, weirdly, to enjoy things a bit more,” Taylor said.

James Taylor sheds light on how his wife supported him

Taylor also explained how he constantly kept talking to his wife, who was one of the pillars of strength for him. There were moments when he would lose hope, but his wife would offer whatever help and stayed by his side through thick and thin.

“I chose to be open with people around me. I shared every feeling I had with my wife, so if I pulled a face she immediately knew what was going on inside me. If I could talk to Christian Eriksen now I’d say just try to be honest about how you’re feeling.”

“And realize how incredibly lucky you are because it could have been very different. Yes, his world is upside down right now but life itself is a great option. And he’s got that,” added Taylor.