WHEN a father-of-two suffered a heart attack his housebuilder colleagues were shocked – but one immediately jumped in to help by raising £500 for his family.

Vistry Southern site manager Ricky Briscoe started a Christmas jumper collection for materials controller Pawel Wasik, with more than 200 site staff taking part.

Ricky and Pawel, 43, who has two young children, are based at the Bovis Homes Whiteley Meadows together.

The team also organised a Christmas hamper of goodies to be sent to Pawel, who spent three days at Southampton General Hospital.

Pawel, who lives in Southampton and suffered the heart attack at home, said: “Thank you so much to all the Vistry staff especially Ricky, I really don’t know what to say. I am so grateful for their kindness and I will hopefully be back on site in the New Year.”

A social media post on LinkedIn, by NHBC building inspector Dave Kirby, has received more than 1,400 likes and 69 comments wishing Pawel a speedy recovery.

Ricky said: “Pawel is such a popular guy on site – everyone knows him and likes him. We just couldn’t believe what had happened, it’s such a shock and we just wanted to do everything we can for him and his family.

“Christmas jumper day is such an important day for us on site and it just felt right to use it to raise money for Pawel and his young family to try to help make sure they can have the best Christmas possible. We wish him the very best for his recovery and hope to see him back at Whiteley Meadows soon.”

Dawnet McLaughlin, managing director at Vistry Southern, which is the parent company of Bovis, said her thoughts were with Pawel and his family and she hoped the housebuilder’s hamper would lift their spirits.

“We wanted to make a small gesture to try and support Pawel and his family in any way we could,” she said. “We’ll be thinking about them all over Christmas and New Year and wish Pawel a full recovery, I know everyone on site will miss him and hope he’s back to work as soon as he’s ready.”