Scotland forward Sam Skinner recalled a former team-mate being saved by a defibrillator as he gave his backing to an initiative to encourage rugby clubs across the country to install the life-saving devices.
Skinner, who has won 35 caps for Scotland since his debut in 2018, revealed an unnamed former Exeter Chiefs colleague suffered a cardiac arrest during a training session that required urgent first aid.
“Our physios were incredible,” Skinner said of the incident during his eight-year stint at Sandy Park.
“They had the knowledge and the right equipment - they had the defibrillator - and they saved his life.”
Skinner shared his experience as Scottish Rugby launched a new initiative alongside charity Hearts and Balls to help grassroots clubs with funding for defibrillators.
The campaign, which is being backed by the British Heart Foundation, will see Hearts and Balls contribute up to £25,000 to fund the greater uptake of defibrillators in Scotland’s rugby clubs.
“It was shocking, I’ve actually got goosebumps now just thinking about it. I was training at the time and our physios sprinted across the pitch and everything went silent as the reality set in. The respect I have for those guys…they were brilliant and they can be incredibly proud of themselves because they saved his life.”
The 29-year-old admitted the traumatic incident put professional sport in perspective.
"Rugby is funny because it’s an emotional sport and you build it up like it’s the be all and end all, and it is and it’s important we buy into that, but it slaps you in the face when something like that happens and you actually realise there are bigger fish to fry,” he said.
And the Scotland forward, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury, has urged clubs across the country to get involved.
“I think that’s especially important for the grassroots clubs that don’t have that [medical] support,” he said at the launch of the initiative at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Wednesday.
“It could literally be up to the players to be trained and to have access to the equipment so I’m massively keen to support this initiative.”
And that message rings true for Hamish Bell, who suffered a cardiac arrest while training at Blairgowrie RFC in 2021, aged just 20.
Bell admits he owes his life to his team-mates and the fundraising his club undertook to buy a defibrillator.
He said: “Let’s get behind Scottish Rugby and this amazing charity Hearts + Balls. Let’s support their initiative and allow for all rugby clubs in Scotland to have access to at least one defibrillator and the chance to learn CPR. It will prove a life-saver.”
Skinner, meanwhile, also praised Hearts and Balls, the charity set up in 1999 after a Lismore RFC player suffered a serious spinal injury that left him paralysed.
The charity has since spent upwards of £700,000 on helping injured players from across the country.
Skinner added: “I think it’s amazing what they are doing. I am very keen to help contribute to the message and help spread it.”
Commentator Hugh Dan MacLennan, whose voice is synonymous with the rugby coverage on BBC Alba, is chairman of the Hearts and Balls Charitable Trust.
“Our focus as a charity has been on helping players living with life-changing injuries sustained while playing.
“This initiative aligns perfectly with our vision of also dealing with wider health-related issues and injury prevention, along with the overall well-being of people involved in the game at all levels.
“We have had direct involvement with families who had have significant experience of cardiac arrest in rugby and we very much appreciate fund-raising efforts which have been initiated to help us with this vital work.”
Gavin Scott, Scottish Rugby’s director of rugby development, added: “Several clubs are also keen to register their defibrillator on the Scottish Ambulance Service’s circuit, which means that ambulance control rooms know when a club is open, and that defibrillator would be accessible to a member of the public should a cardiac arrest occur nearby that club.
“That puts a whole new definition of a rugby club being at the heart of its community and we are pledged to work with our clubs to increase both the number of defibrillators but also those being registered on the circuit.”
Details on how to apply will be sent to all clubs by Scottish Rugby later this month. Clubs with a defibrillator can apply for a second portable device to boost their care provision.
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