Around 2:30 p.m. May 30, bicyclists Sean Nam and Bill Blandford were traveling along the Swatara State Park trail system. As they were mountain biking on the trails, Blandford suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
Nam, a TowerDirect paramedic, immediately began CPR and called 911.
“It was a little bit emotional in that aspect, ’cause I’m used to doing my work on strangers, not friends,” he said. “When the incident happened, I thought he was initially joking around with me. But when I actually realized he was in cardiac arrest … I came back to doing what I was trained to do.”
Nam continued chest compressions on his former Penn State college roommate and shouted for help until an unknown cyclist happened to pass by. As sirens were heard in the distance, the cyclist ran to let emergency crews know where Blandford was.
But on Friday, Aug. 21, Blandford could be seen standing next to Nam as he, along with two rangers, were recognized by Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, along with state and local officials, for their life‑saving actions that day.
Blandford told the Lebanon Daily News after the ceremony that the events of that day were “miraculous.”
“I was cycling with a friend who’s a career paramedic who knew what to do immediately, and it’s remarkable that when he called for help, (rangers) were so close by,” he said. “Having to manage three different parks in the area, they happened to be a few minutes from the park we were in.”
At 2:35 p.m. May 30, DCNR Rangers Ellen Secor and Emily McCoy were dispatched while driving along Route 443. They were flagged down by the cyclist who directed them towards Blandford’s location.
Before being dispatched, Secor and McCoy had just cleared another incident in the area, and were traveling toward the park’s mountain bike trail system.
“Swatara is a 3,500-acre park,” McCoy said. “The fact that Ellen and I were right down the road on the way to the spot where the other cyclist popped out of the woods to get us is mind-blowing.”
Blandford and Nam were approximately 250 yards from the roadway along trail B of the mountain bike complex, according to Swatara State Park Manager Courtney Troutman.
“At 2:39 p.m., less than 8 minutes after the 911 call, Ellen and Emily reached Bill and found Sean actively performing CPR,” Troutman said. “They immediately joined the resuscitation effort.”
Rangers used an automated external defibrillator, or AED, on Blandford, and continued life saving measures. They were followed by Northern Lebanon Fire and Emergency Services, Ft. Indiantown Gap Fire Department and Pine Grove Community Ambulance.
At 2:48 p.m., responders confirmed that Blandford regained a pulse, 16 minutes after the 911 call. He was then transported to the Lancaster General Hospital, where he received a pacemaker.
“Each link in that chain mattered, and because of those actions, before Bill ever left the trail that afternoon, his heart was beating again,” Troutman said. “He was breathing on his own, and he was awake and talking.”
Secor has served as a DCNR ranger since 2024, and McCoy came to DCNR after spending 12 years as a 911 dispatcher in Dauphin and Cumberland counties. Yet both rangers credit Nam’s efforts before they arrived on scene as what saved Blandford’s life.
“Bill couldn’t have been with a better guy at that moment, and then for the universe to align like it did, which was statistically unlikely,” McCoy said.
Both rangers received DCNR Secretarial Citations from Dunn Aug. 21 acknowledging their dedication, readiness and commitment to public safety. Nam received a citation recognizing his bravery, quick thinking and decisive action.
“This incident shows how lifesaving care begins with the person closest to the emergency,” Dunn said during the ceremony. “Sean’s quick actions obviously allowed everything else to happen that resulted in Bill being here today.”
Officials said Pennsylvania state parks are equipped with AEDs, with devices located at all staffed state parks and in every state officer’s vehicle. In addition, DCNR staff are trained in first aid and CPR, which is a requirement for all 232 DCNR rangers, managers, resource rangers and educators.
Secor said that residents visiting DCNR parks should always know where they are going, where the entrances are, and share their locations with others in case an emergency occurs on a park trail. Rangers also demonstrated to reporters the app What3Words, a global location system used to help identify residents’ location if they might be lost in parks or large rural areas.
Nam also recommended that residents reach out to their local American Red Cross and get CPR certified.
“Study and data has proven that from early recognition that the person had dropped, and was not breathing and didn’t have a pulse, that initial rapid chest compression and circulating the blood saves lives,” he said.
Since the incident, Blandford has been slowly getting back into biking, and was planning to ride Swatara State Park again Friday afternoon with Nam. While remarking that the Swatara State Park has a great trail system, the Elk Ridge, Maryland, resident said that the incident has made him more respectful of his cardiovascular health.
“The cardiologist told me to keep on living, so that’s what I’m going to do,” Blandford said.
