Former Celtic Striker Praised For "Truly Remarkable" Act | Latest Celtic News
· Mark Devlin · 2026-08-11 · nguồn gốc
Former Celtic striker Holmbert Fridjonsson has been hailed as a hero in South Korea after helping rescue an injured driver from a burning car.
The Iceland international was travelling with his Gwangju FC teammates when their team bus came across the aftermath of a collision between a car and a lorry.
Gwangju were returning from a 0-0 draw against Bucheon FC when the bus stopped at the scene, with the car already on fire.
Reports in South Korea say Fridjonsson and teammate Shin Chang-moo acted immediately, dragging the injured driver from the vehicle.
Other Gwangju players and members of staff then left the bus and used fire extinguishers to tackle the blaze.
Both drivers involved in the collision were later taken to hospital to be treated.
Remarkably, Fridjonsson and his teammates did not report what had happened to officials at Gwangju. The club only discovered the details after footage taken by a witness appeared online.
A Gwangju official said: “At the time, only the player team was present, and they did not report anything separately, so this is the first time we learned about it internally.
“Even though the vehicle was on fire, they entered to rescue the driver. That must have been extremely difficult; watching the video, we were also greatly surprised and felt it was truly remarkable.”
The Korean FA is now considering commendations for Fridjonsson and his Gwangju teammates following their actions.
A witness to the accident said:
“Despite the dangerous situation, they prioritised rescuing the trapped driver over their own safety and even extinguished the fire — I was shocked and deeply moved by what I saw.”
Fridjonsson may not be too familiar a name to Celtic supporters; his spell in Glasgow never resulted in a competitive first-team appearance.
Celtic signed the striker from Icelandic side Fram for around £100,000 in 2013, but he left the club two years later without breaking into the senior side.
His career subsequently took him around Europe, including spells in Italy, Germany and Norway, before his move to South Korea.
Now 33, Fridjonsson has spent the last year with Gwangju, scoring four goals in 28 appearances.
His Celtic career may have passed without the striker getting the chance to make his mark on the pitch, but what happened on that road in South Korea puts football firmly into perspective.
Fridjonsson and the rest of the Gwangju travelling party saw a serious situation unfolding and got involved rather than standing back.
The fact the players did not seek publicity afterwards, and their own club only learned about their actions through footage posted by a witness, says plenty too.
Credit to Fridjonsson and everyone from Gwangju who acted quickly when it mattered.