A rugby player has thanked the referee who saved his life during a match.
Nigel Blacklock collapsed during training at St Benedict’s Rugby Club in Whitehaven.
Unbeknown to him or his teammates, Nigel was having a heart attack, a medical emergency that only 8% of people survive after defibrillation – a statistic he was told by the doctors who treated him.
But quick thinking by referee Carl Walmsley, who had been taught first aid during his day job at as a concrete chargehand from the Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant project team, helped save Nigel’s life.
Carl, known as Wammo, immediately assessed the situation, realised the severity, called for the defibrillator and began performing CPR.
Carl said: “I had my back to it all at first, then I heard someone shout Nigel has gone down, I thought it must have been a typical sports injury. But when I turned him over I knew it was something far more serious.
“All I kept remembering from my first aid training was the first four minutes are critical. Everything I learned came back to me in the moment, and without that training, I don’t think I could have helped him.”
When the defibrillator arrived, Carl followed the instructions to administer a shock, attempting to restart Nigel’s heart before continuing CPR until the paramedics arrived and took over.
For Lyndsey, Nigel’s wife, the situation was terrifying. She said: “I was at home when one of the lads’ wives messaged me to call her urgently. She said Nigel had collapsed, and he hadn’t moved for 15 minutes. I panicked, trying to get to the hospital, not even knowing if he would survive. It was the longest night of my life.
“We’re taking it one day at a time, he’s not 100% yet, but he’s making progress.”
Nigel is a senior site supervisor from PPP’s Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store 2, known as BEPPS2 at Sellafield.
Lyndsey added: “The support from his colleagues at PPP and the rugby lads has been incredible—they’ve checked in constantly, and it’s meant so much to our family.”
Nigel spent nearly a month in the hospital, and his recovery has been slow but steady.
Nigel said: “It’s brought us closer together. This could have been a completely different story.”
After the incident, workers on the BEPPS2 project at Sellafield requested more defibrillators through an observation system, resulting in the installation of two additional units on site.
Lyndsey said she was grateful to Carl and the team who saved her husband. She said: “They were absolutely brilliant. I can’t thank them enough for what they did for Nigel and for us as a family.”
