{"id":844,"date":"2025-01-28T12:18:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.competefor.com\/sellafield\/?p=844"},"modified":"2025-01-28T12:18:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:18:18","slug":"nigel-blacklock-knowingly-safe-a-life-saved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.competefor.com\/sellafield\/2025\/01\/28\/nigel-blacklock-knowingly-safe-a-life-saved\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowingly Safe 24\/7: A life saved!"},"content":{"rendered":"
A routine Friday night rugby match turned into a life or death situation when Nigel Blacklock, a Senior Site Supervisor on our Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store 2 (BEPPS2) project, collapsed during training at St Benedict’s Rugby Club in Whitehaven.<\/p>\n
Unknown 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.<\/p>\nNigel Blacklock, pictured with his wife Lyndsey<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The first to respond was Carl \u2018Wammo\u2019 Walmsley, a Concrete Chargehand from our Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant (SRP) project team, who was refereeing the match when Nigel went down.<\/p>\n
Quick to action<\/h3>\n
Carl immediately assessed the situation, realised the severity, called for the defibrillator and began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).<\/p>\n
Carl said:\u00a0\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cAll 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\u2019t think I could have helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\nCarl Walmsley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
For Lyndsey, Nigel’s wife, the situation was terrifying. Recalling the moment she found out, she said:\u00a0\u201cI was at home when one of the lads\u2019 wives messaged me to call her urgently. She said Nigel had collapsed, and he hadn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re taking it one day at a time, he\u2019s not 100% yet, but he\u2019s making progress. The support from his colleagues at PPP and the rugby lads has been incredible\u2014they\u2019ve checked in constantly, and it\u2019s meant so much to our family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now home and recovering<\/h3>\n
Nigel spent nearly a month in the hospital, and his recovery has been slow but steady.\u00a0The incident left an emotional mark on everyone involved.<\/p>\n
Carl admitted to struggling with flashbacks in the weeks after, saying:\u00a0\u201cWhen Nigel posted on social media that he was okay, I finally felt like I could breathe again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigel acknowledged the profound impact on his family, stating:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s brought us closer together. This could have been a completely different story.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aftermath of the incident has also led to actionable changes. Operatives on BEPPS2 requested more defibrillators through the observation system, resulting in the installation of two additional units on-site.<\/p>\n
Lyndsey expressed heartfelt gratitude to Carl and the team who saved him:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey were absolutely brilliant. I can\u2019t thank them enough for what they did for Nigel and for us as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story is a powerful reminder of the importance of first aid training, community support, and defibrillators. For Nigel and his family, it was the difference between tragedy and a second chance at life, and a true example of the PPP workforce looking out for one another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A routine Friday night rugby match turned into a life or death situation when Nigel Blacklock, a Senior Site Supervisor on our Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store 2 (BEPPS2) project, collapsed during training at St Benedict’s Rugby Club in Whitehaven. Unknown to him or his teammates, Nigel was having a heart attack, a medical emergency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1341,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[60,61,57],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-defibrillator","tag-knowingly-safe","tag-ppp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Nigel](\"http:\/\/www.competefor.com\/sellafield\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2025\/01\/Screenshot_28-1-2025_113011_sellafieldcloud.sharepoint.com_.jpeg\")
![\"Carl](\"http:\/\/www.competefor.com\/sellafield\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2025\/01\/Screenshot_28-1-2025_113025_sellafieldcloud.sharepoint.com_.jpeg\")