Saved Albert’s life – hailed as a hero after blowing off

When the goalkeeper collapses after a collision, referee Rasmus Hermansson acts instinctively. He blows off the match and calls for medical attention. Goalkeeper Albert Björnevik has swallowed his tongue, which is blocking the airways.
– His eyes are gone, says Rasmus Hermansson in Efter fem.

In the middle of the second half of a match in the P19 superettan south, the 17-year-old goalkeeper Albert Björnevik collides with an opponent. After that, he collapses, something Borås newspaper was the first to report on. The referee on this day was 22-year-old Rasmus Hermansson, who reacts immediately when he sees that there is a lot of blood and that the goalkeeper is unconscious.

– His eyes are gone and he lies shaking on the ground, says Rasmus Hermansson in Efter fem.

The tongue blocked the airway

Referee Rasmus immediately stops the match, calls for medical help and quickly dives down to the ground and sticks his fingers into the goalkeeper’s mouth as he suspects that the goalkeeper swallowed his tongue. Quite literally, the tongue blocked the airways.

An ambulance is called to the scene and once it arrives the goalkeeper is conscious again and now Rasmus Hermansson is hailed as the referee hero who saved the goalkeeper’s life.

“Grateful for what Rasmus did”

In After five, Rasmus is reunited with the goalkeeper, who tells us that he is generally fine, but that his nose still hurts a little as it was broken in the collision. He himself does not remember much of the incident as he was unconscious, but that it feels strange to hear what actually happened.

– But it is clear that I am grateful for what Rasmus did, says Albert Björnevik in Efter fem.