Rugby Referee’s First Aid Saves Colleague During Match

A first aid responder attributed his ability to save a work colleague’s life during a rugby match to recalling that the initial four minutes are “critical.” Carl Walmsley was officiating a game last month at St Benedict’s Rugby Club in Whitehaven, Cumbria, when player Nigel Blacklock collapsed. Mr. Walmsley, who completed his first aid training through his employment at Sellafield, stated he had not anticipated ever needing to utilize it. However, his training instincts took over, and he commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He expressed feeling as though he could “breathe again” upon learning that Mr. Blacklock, also employed at Sellafield, was recovering. Mr. Walmsley recounted: “I had my back to it all at first, then I heard someone shout that Nigel had 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.” Lyndsey, Mr. Blacklock’s wife, described the news that her husband had been motionless for 15 minutes as terrifying. “I panicked, trying to get to the hospital, not even knowing if he would survive,” she recalled.”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. “The support from his colleagues and the rugby lads has been incredible – they’ve checked in constantly and it’s meant so much to our family.”