Sandwell man’s life saved at bingo lung health check

Ex-smoker Paul Nightingale, 62, from Wednesbury, was invited to attend a Targeted Lung Health Check at a specialist scanning van based in the Mecca Bingo car park in Oldbury. The checks are part of a new NHS initiative to detect any early-stage signs of cancer.

But clinicians from Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust found a 9cm abdominal aortic aneurysm instead and two weeks later medics were performing life-saving surgery on Paul.

Paul, who lives with his child Clay and wife Heather, said: “A trip to the bingo basically saved my life. I’d gone along to check-up which only took around 30 minutes, and was told it would take three to four weeks to receive the result. 

“So I carried on with my usual activities, including my job which involved transporting cars from around the country back to Sandwell.

“Four days after the scan, I’d flown to Edinburgh to fetch a car from auction. I’d just got off the plane and turned my phone back on, and a text came in saying I had an appointment at Sandwell Hospital’s vascular surgery department.”

Paul added: “When I went to the appointment, they told me they’d had something back from the lung health check, showing I had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, estimated to be 5cm in size.

“They did a further ultrasound scan that day and found that it was in fact 9cm and quite critical.

“I was shocked as I was in no pain but in hindsight, the only symptom I had was a pulse in my stomach that I could feel when I was lying down.”

Two weeks later, he was admitted to Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, where he underwent five-hour abdominal aortic aneurysm open-repair surgery. 

He spent five days recovering in hospital and was able to be discharged in time for Clay’s 21st birthday. Paul is urging others who receive an invitation to make an appointment. “If you’ve had a message from your GP, for God’s sake go. Sandwell’s lung health check saved my life, and it could save yours too,” he said.

Targeted Lung Health Checks (TLHC) are a national drive to screen current and ex-smokers aged between 55 and 74, to detect any problems with their lungs. It was rolled out in Sandwell earlier this year and aims to scan all eligible residents by the end of next year.

Steve Nelson, TLHC programme manager at the Trust said: “The lung health check programme aims to detect lung cancer early, however, as in this case, it may detect other conditions requiring treatment.

“The service is delivered at a community-based location with the support of local businesses, who provide free parking for patients, making appointments easy and convenient to attend.”