“I Could Hear The Transformer Blow a Couple of Blocks Away.”

As Mostly Cajun is fond of saying, “Not only will electricity kill you, you’ll hurt real bad the whole time you’re dying.”

I just had the privilege of caring for a man who, as he put it, “Took a crash course in high voltage about 20 years ago, and flunked miserably.”

He was erecting a derrick over an irrigation well, and raised the derrick straight into a line carrying 2600 volts. The plasma ball blew off both legs and his right arm, mangled the other arm, and burned a hole in his chest where his pocket calculator had been.

He says he remained conscious throughout most of the ordeal, including the quote that is the title of this post, and to confirm what MC says, it did indeed hurt like hell.

He was a funny, boisterous (well, after we got him stabilized*) and cantankerous old coot.

Probably the only reason he survived his encounter. Such things kill lesser men.

*Ever tried to start an IV in someone with no legs, and only one arm that is little more than a twisted mass of scar tissue? I gained some serious street cred with a little volunteer fire department tonight. Kelso, however, just yawned. He’s become so used to seeing me perform such feats, he’s downright blase about it. 😉

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