Yesterday, we were shocked and saddened to hear the news that Big Finish Production Assistant and Producer, Paul Spragg had died.
Paul had worked at Big Finish for over 5 years, and as well as his behind-the-scenes work, Paul provided customers and website owners and bloggers with the most fantastic service and upbeat attitude to his work which he clearly loved.
Big Finish posted a news item on their site, stating:
"Paul had worked with us for over five years and had become an essential member of the team. We will remember him for his tireless diligence, his total dedication to his job, his cheery nature, his hilarious sense of humour and his kindness and friendship.
He had relatively recently become editor of Vortex magazine (a promotion he was given 'live' on a podcast).
His work behind the scenes on contracts, script distribution, proof-reading, cover layout, studio management, CD Extra interviews, the website and so much more made him vital to the company's operations."
Doctor Who Magazine Editor and friend of Paul since he was 11, Tom Spilsbury, posted a poignant and heartfelt tribute on his blog, here.
On a personal level, Paul was the guy who provided DWO with all our Big Finish covers for our site reviews and merchandise guide. From the many emails we have bounced back and forth over the years, he had a great sense of humour and was one of the fastest email repliers out there!
Paul's partner, Natalie Hayden, issued a statement on Facebook, yesterday.
"To all of you that I didn't manage to text yesterday (I couldn't get round to everyone): there is sad news that Paul died yesterday suddenly. He'd been unwell for a few weeks, and was due to go to the GPs yesterday. But he was too breathless to be able to make it in to the surgery, so they phoned him instead. They arranged for a non-emergency ambulance to come and take him to hospital so he could be monitored. When they arrived, he was talking to them normally, and then had a seizure. He came out of that one, then had another seizure, during which his heart stopped and he stopped breathing. The ambulance crew tried to resuscitate him for two hours at home, and then took him to hospital where they tried for a further half an hour, but couldn't bring him round."
DWO would like to pass on our condolences to the Paul's friends and family, as well as the Big Finish family.
[Source: Big Finish]
