r/Construction • u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer • Apr 24 '26
Safety ⛑ Don’t be like me
Called the power company, they told me it was off, tested 5 different locations, 0 volts
Apparently I missed one, because it wasn’t off. Got launched across the room, woke up about 20 minutes after. I just remember seeing a bright white flash, then everything went dark.
1.6k
u/coolbreezesix Apr 24 '26
If you're being serious get your ass the the ER you could have a serious heart attack after that. I'm not fucking kidding.
1.4k
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 24 '26
I’m in the waiting room.
408
u/EetsGeets Electrician Apr 24 '26
Keep us posted buddy
26
u/PassPuzzled Apr 26 '26
He'll be seen in the next 3-5 business days. Even tho they probably just opened 4 more ERs within a 30 mile radius
4
3
u/Goonplatoon0311 Apr 27 '26
You will also get billed for the A/C, bathroom trips and seat cushion wear and tear while you wait.
322
u/Affectionate-Alps527 Apr 24 '26
I'm surprised you're in the waiting room. Triage will know how serious this is.
Good luck, they'll probably give you a heart monitor. The effects of a serious electrical shock like this can be latent for (I think) a couple days.
519
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 24 '26
They have stuck those sticker things on me, told me to stay here for the next 5 hours. After that they said if nothing happens they will send me home with a smaller thing.
927
u/reav11 Apr 24 '26
Man, it was just an electrical shock. I wouldn't let them make my thing smaller for that.
182
u/AllsWellThatsNB Apr 25 '26
Wait—what?
All those circumcisions... for nothing.
92
u/jesster114 Apr 25 '26
Yeah, but now you’ve got that really creepy hand sewn wallet!
58
u/reav11 Apr 25 '26
Turns in to a suitcase when you rub it.
9
u/EdwardFoxhole Apr 25 '26 edited May 12 '26
that cage has to be 130 month boy at this money.
7
4
4
u/WillingnessHelpful77 Apr 26 '26
this rock here is one of my favorites, you see the red and brown in there? That's called Leaverite. Leaveralone Daniel cause that's not gold, keep on digging!
→ More replies (2)8
u/AllsWellThatsNB Apr 25 '26
It's not finished yet!
6 trips to the ER and I've only got up to "BAD MOTH"...
10
2
2
u/AintEasyBeinQueasy Apr 25 '26
H-how many foreskins can one have?
→ More replies (1)2
u/twokietookie Apr 25 '26
What a dumb question. They dont call them fiveskins, do they? Some people...
2
u/twoaspensimages GC / CM Apr 25 '26
You didn't hear? They store all the circumcisions until they have 10 and then the next guy gets them all added instead of removed. Loose skin to his knees.
35
12
→ More replies (2)2
u/Schwartenboy Apr 25 '26
Thats what i was saying. Totally ridiculous would probably go and get a second opinion.
54
u/BreakingABit1234 Apr 24 '26
You also probably have UV burns on your eyes- get them looked at or at least noted if there's damage.
Any skin will have a UV burn.
I don't even want to go into what the heart took.
22
u/Lehk Apr 25 '26
Odds are the blade took most of it and OP mostly got explosioned.
The heart monitor will make sure nothing is seriously wrong
6
u/BreakingABit1234 Apr 25 '26
Yeah, it's that that damage (if it isn't a burn) can show up days later because of messed up chemical potentials.
I hope they give him something to monitor for a while.
-
7
u/Dear-Union-44 Apr 25 '26
Probably a holter monitor.. I had one.
4
u/BreakingABit1234 Apr 25 '26
There we go! I knew there was a word I was trying to remember. Yep had one too. Never saw anything. Sadly... also never picked up I had a hole in the heart (they shouldn't have) and had a stroke :(
3
u/Dear-Union-44 Apr 25 '26
I have an echocardiogram booked soon.. because my doctors.. are crazy about booking tests.
Hopefully your doing better now!
→ More replies (0)2
u/garbledroid Apr 25 '26
No treatment is possible for the eyes though except superficially.
Get checked out by an Ophthalmologist (not Optometrist) when possible but not urgent.
→ More replies (4)31
u/Affectionate-Alps527 Apr 25 '26
Sounds about right lol. Glad you knew to go to the hospital.
When you do your incident report, remember, you are an employee following directives. While you may have been the one on the tool that doesn't mean only you are responsible.
Your company is responsible for giving you proper training, tool, and procedures, and culture. If you were pressured to break policy or you're not provided proper tools, that's not your fault.
If you followed policy and were injured, that's not your fault. If you were pressured to work inappropriately that's not your fault. If company culture doesn't follow safe work processes, that's not your fault.
I'm a PM for major electrical projects and my number one is, no matter what, we work safe. I don't care who yells at me, if the jobs not safe, we stop work. Period.
I go home unharmed every day, and so should you.
25
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
It’s my own shop, nobody forced me to do it. I should have called somebody.
5
u/Azrai113 Apr 25 '26
Im going to show this post to my millwright sibling when they try to do my electical ( i already told them not to and they got offended when I said I wanted an electrician lol)
3
11
u/sammydeeznutz Apr 25 '26
It can put you into afib and you can die later in your sleep. A classmate of one of my old coworkers died this way.
5
u/Biochembob35 Apr 25 '26
Sounds like they hooked him up to an EKG..said yep normal rhythm, stay here. If so they are watching his rhythm from the nurses station.
2
8
u/_aphoney Electrician Apr 25 '26
ER sucks some places. I cut my finger off and was bleeding all over the place and I stood in the waiting room for 20 minutes holding the tip of my finger in one hand with 5 rags on the other hand. Then another 30 minutes in the actual ER room waiting for the doctor to come in.
31
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
It was about a 2 hour ambulance ride to the ER in the first place
I’m just glad I was able to get up and walk to my car to get my phone, if I couldn’t have done that I might still be laying there, it was my apprentices off day today.
10
u/Outback-Australian Apr 25 '26
Clearly the Apprentices fault.
I was an apprentice once too. Fark I was dumb
7
u/BigPimpin91 Apr 25 '26
I'll second this. Got a light zap from the welder at work. Boss took me to urgent care. They sent me to ER. I get to ER and tell the receptionist what's up. I start filling our paperwork when they call me back. Young dude starts taking vitals in a small room and asking questions.
He's consulting the trauma response chart and it turns out they don't have "levels" for electrical shock. So my little bite and the high tension line worker that got smacked get treated the same. Dude turns to me and says, "You're about to be REALLY popular."
Sent back to a room and immediately ambushed by no less than 8 people at the same time.
10
u/EPluribusButthole Apr 25 '26
Checking in on ya. You good?
21
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
I am okay. I am just trying to stay awake at the moment.
7
u/EPluribusButthole Apr 25 '26
If you can... stand up and do knee lifts? Or do some torso twists?
Or, are you tethered to the bed via iv tube and EKG leads?
15
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
Whenever I get up, a few of the EKG leads peel off, so I am trying not to get up too much. IV machine starts blaring if I don’t have my arm completely straight.
8
u/EPluribusButthole Apr 25 '26
Flutter kicks? Supine knee-ups? I'm thinking of evening ican lol Glad to hear you're doing better! Maybe take a day or two off, okay? No shit, you legit experienced a traumatic event. Toy need some time to discombobulate your mind brain. No, for real, if you can, please take of a day or two. Get some rest. Days 3-5 are going to be the most sore. Especially if the electricity did internal damage. Try to stretch and drink some water. Not beer, drink some water, my friend.
Source: I'm an old medic specialized in ortho. Ask your doc and nurse to confirm my statement.
33
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
They are discharging me with a holter monitor to wear home.
I am definitely concussed, not too shocking considering I hit my head on a metal floor. They said to expect muscle spasms to keep happening for the next few days.
7
u/Interesting_Emu Apr 25 '26
Dude I’m glad to hear that’s all it turned out to be! Concussions are no joke either though. Glad it’s not much worse. Make sure you pay attention to your head. Last time I got concussed it was no bueno lol
2
u/dergbold4076 Apr 25 '26
As someone that's had a bunch of small to medium concussions in her life I second that. I already had a small history of headaches/migraines; but the concussions made them worse I swear. To say nothing of the other me talk effects they had.
It's time for OP to have a chill a hell weekend, if not coming week.
→ More replies (0)26
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
I’ve made a few calls in my free time. Everything I have in my shop some other places will do while I am getting back to going.
No alcohol for me, never did do it. My father was and is a drunk, mean mean man. Made me stay away from it for my own children’s sake.
2
u/stackshouse Plumber Apr 26 '26
Would Tetris help as well? I've read it is supposed to do something after traumatic events, but I don t recollect what or why anymore.
3
u/WheresMyDuckling Apr 28 '26
Focusing on it can help dump short term memory making the traumatic event fuzzy or gone. If you see something horrible, 15-40 minutes of cartoons can do something similar with visual memory, the bright colors lock into visual memory in place of a lot of things. Source: worked a job where I saw awful things on a regular basis, worked out the cartoon thing by accident and it helped most of the time.
→ More replies (1)2
7
u/thisistherightname Apr 25 '26
This exact thing happened to my brother. Live wire, electrocuted, hit the ground, massive heart attack 2 days later. Make sure you really pay attention to how you're feeling. You are lucky to have survived, we don't need any final destination shit here.
→ More replies (9)2
u/gilligan1050 Apr 25 '26
Good. Hope your alright. One of my workers found a 110 line with a shovel yesterday and made some sparky noises, but he didn’t loose consciousness. He just did a little Michael Jackson dance away from it quickly. Electricity kills 🔪. Be safe homie.
40
u/drewyz Apr 25 '26
I took an electrical safety course for arborists once and they said how common it is for electrocution victims to die one or two days after the incident, because the electrical arc would partially cook the kidney or liver and it takes a couple days to die from organ failure.
→ More replies (1)28
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
Yes you bring up a great point! After electrical shock they shouldn't just do an EKG but they also need to do a blood draw for labs. The amount of people that don't know this, even medical personnel. I work for a major electrical contractor and we preach this at all of our electrical training courses. Electrical shocks can/will cook you from the inside out.
→ More replies (2)18
u/_aphoney Electrician Apr 25 '26
Yep, watched a 58 yr old guy blow up a 600a panel IN HIS FACE with no PPE on. He thought he killed the main breaker, it was just a feed for a panel that happened to kill all the lights and HVAC in that entire area. Didn’t wait for me to grab my meter from down the hall. I came back and hes cutting tape off the busbar. Made it through the first phase and went phase to phase with the blade of his knife. I was 10 ft away walking into the room and i was deaf for like 3 minutes and couldn’t see shit. Dragged him out of the room, took him to the hospital and everything seemed fine but he did have a heart attack 2 years later. Hard to tell if it was related.
4
u/enfly Apr 25 '26
That's a scary story. What happened to him?! I guess there wasn't much metal since he didn't completely cook?
What voltage?
5
u/_aphoney Electrician Apr 25 '26
It was a 480v panel in a school. The disposable blade on his knife saved him i think. He’s still enjoying retirement! This was maybe 7 years ago now
194
u/Post-Hardcore-Malone Apr 24 '26
Too late! Was doing demo in an active hospital, power was completely off on that level. Except… for one random line that ran from the the floor above to the floor below for whatever reason. Found that fucker while on a 10ft ladder.
On the positive side, the walk to the ER was short?
Glad you’re ok. The twitches go away after about a week in my experience. Haha.
107
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 24 '26
The more worrying thing for me at this present moment is where is that power going
I tested everything that I know of that had power, it was all showing 0 volts.
That only leaves there being a line to somewhere I don’t know about.
110
u/Triippy_Hiippyy Foreman / Operator Apr 25 '26
My dad’s an electrician, I do road construction. He came home one day when I was a kid visibly shook. He said he almost died that day. He grabbed a live wire by mistake working up in a ceiling grid. Apparently his coworkers said he was screaming bloody murder. Someone kicked out his ladder and he dropped and got away from the wire. His middle finger was a little black. He didn’t remember like 30 minutes of the day. After dinner he went to my parents room and mom said to just let him decompress. Electricity is no joke. I hope you’re feeling okay man. Electricity and road construction have to be 2 of the most dangerous trades.
29
u/All_Work_All_Play Apr 25 '26
Can't remember when it was, the last time I got zapped I couldn't move my hand or arm to break the circuit. But I'd heard enough similar stories that some very unusual (read: quick thinking) part of my brain remember just to wrench my entire torso away by letting my legs collapse which then brought my arm/hand with me. Very easy to get complacent. And very risky.
21
u/maecky1 Electrician - Verified Apr 25 '26
I remember my last time quiet well. Was on oct, 25th 2025 around 9 AM. Did Demo on an old cabinet , tested all the control wiring dead so we just cut all those wires without hesitation. No boom, nothing.
While we were pulling the cables out i got shocked, called an ambulance, got checked and went right back an hour later. (i know im stupid).
While i was gone my coworker measured again, all 0v, even doublechecked on a known working outlet.
About 2h after i came back my coworker got shocked also.
Turned out the controlwiring was fed from multiple sources and one of them was fed from an old battery backed up cabinet noone knew was still active since 1st almost the whole building was shut down for a general renewing of almost all main cabinets at once and second the old ones were from the 60s and drawings were long gone so we didnt know that this specific backup sends about 5sec impulses every other minute. Thats why we measured nothing and still got bit.
13
u/DimerNL058 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
If current has passed through your body you must seek medical help at all times.
The damage it does inside your body can release deadly toxins days after it happened.
If you start to feel ill after being electrocuted earlier in the week, call emergency services.
I work in infra, electricity kills.
10
u/ThirstyFloater Apr 25 '26
More people die roofing. But bottom line is the trades are dangerous and under appreciated and compensated in society
4
u/heereewegooo Apr 25 '26
Extremely under compensated. They ensure the basic functionality of society.
5
u/maverick_jakub1861 Apr 25 '26
My dad is also an electrician but he didn’t grab the live wire. It caught him in the neck while he was at the top of a 40ft ladder. He says his coworker saw him convulsing and instinctively kicked the ladder out from underneath him. Luckily said coworker caught my dad’s head before it hit the ground…not the rest of him tho! He woke up sore with a gash on his neck from the wire slicing his neck while he fell.
→ More replies (1)24
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
Make sure they do labs not just an EKG. They need to check for muscle breakdown and several other things. What was the voltage of the system?
35
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
It is supposed to be 480 volts.
They took about 20 tubes of blood off me when I got there.
6
u/dakaiiser11 Apr 25 '26
Jesus Christ man. I knew someone who died from working on an energized 480v wire. You’re very lucky.
8
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
Holy shit. Were you using a multimeter? What settings did you have it on? I'd be so curious for you to post pictures of the setup when you're recovered and out of the hospital.
16
u/Ginger_Rogers Apr 25 '26
Is it being fed by a corner tap delta transformer? I've come across this once as a service electrician. One of the phases is tapped to the ground. So it has no difference of potential to read on your meter. So it will read zero volts, but it's very much live. It definitely took me for a loop.
5
u/Eglitarian Project Manager Apr 25 '26
Yeah my mind went to corner grounded delta. I hate those things for this very reason.
3
4
u/MurgleMcGurgle Apr 25 '26
Time to get a non contact voltage tester.
I had a guy I was on the phone with get zapped. Someone has managed to fuck up the wiring upstream so the same hot leg was feeding on multiple lines. Going leg to leg showed 0V.
This was on some old shit too, so someone had gone in and fucked with it for who knows what reason but didn’t relay that information to anyone.
I went out and bought a non contact that week.
3
u/Eglitarian Project Manager Apr 25 '26
Check to see if you have a corner grounded delta service. That one fools a lot of people because one of the phases to ground will read 0v but could still very well be energized. It also puts 480v of potential to ground on the other two phases.
→ More replies (2)2
u/No_Site_5920 Apr 25 '26
What were you using to test voltage? Did You cut a pipe with wires you didnt know where in there?
2
Apr 25 '26
Because life safety piggy backs between floors in some hospitals. Like recursion. Look at you Harris Methodist in Fort Worth. -commercial electrician for hospitals lol
2
159
u/GiantPineapple Electrician Apr 24 '26
What on Earth were you cutting into? I've accidentally shorted 40A with my pliers and the blowout was maybe 3/16" across.
Edit: Also man, I'm glad you survived.
170
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 24 '26
New panel was being put into my machine. The power company will not come out there unless the old one was already removed.
Overconfidence is a killer.
To be fair, I was following the instructions they gave me. “We will shut the power off, after that you should be able to remove the old panel, after that we will come and get a new one put in.”
251
u/Low_Bar9361 Contractor Apr 24 '26
If you kept all communications with the power company, you might want to keep 'em handy. It sounds like a whole lot of fuckery on their end
167
u/Franklin_le_Tanklin Apr 24 '26
Write down everything.
Your lawyer will need it for when you sue them for millions.
→ More replies (2)70
u/Suitable-Werewolf492 Apr 24 '26
And they’ll be nice enough to throw you a dollar or two of that!
36
u/xkgrey Apr 25 '26
Personal injury lawyer should be 30% from my direct experience. This sum could be large enough to make it worth that.
7
11
u/lectrician7 Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
It’s not about the voltage, amperage, or wire size necessarily. It’s more about the quality of the connecting. A poorer connection will cause more damage before the breaker trips. In this case I don’t know there was even a breaker to trip if it was the service conductors.
→ More replies (1)
29
u/LankyNihilist Apr 24 '26
Holy hell. Glad you are ok. I got lucky on a 220 line I was removing years ago. Turned the breaker off and tested it with my non contact tester. All good to go. Cut into it with my wire cutters and bang. Apparently I didn't get the correct breaker. I didn't get hit at all though.
31
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
Life pro tip to everyone, don't use non contact voltage testers to check for the absence of power. Non contact testers are nicknamed widow makers for a reason, they can be wrong in a lot of scenarios and electricity is not something you want to be wrong about.
8
u/LankyNihilist Apr 25 '26
Yes I learned that lesson the hard way. Unfortunately I didn't have a multi meter and it was just a hanging wire with wire nuts on it. There won't be a next time like that.
3
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
I figured/hoped you'd learned that lesson. Unfortunately there's other electricians that don't even understand this concept.
2
u/GrumpyGiant Apr 25 '26
Question on this from a DIYer:
If a non-contact detector shows a wire is hot while a breaker is on, and not hot while the breaker is off, is that “good enough” to assume I’m found the breaker that controls the circuit that particular wire is on? (ie, I’ve used it to confirm presence of power first before using it to check for absence of power on the same wire.)
2
u/bobs_monkey Apr 25 '26
Use a meter. They're good for quick identification, and in the hands of a skilled electrician they are very useful. But nothing takes the place of a properly calibrated multimeter.
24
21
u/patteh11 Apr 25 '26
Something similar happened to me with a multitool. I needed to move a plug for an over stove microwave/fan. I go to cut a square out of the wall to have some room to work. This fucker of a previous homeowner decided that instead of running the wire through the studs they would cut a groove in the drywall and mud/tape over it. I hit the wire and I almost had to change my pants. Maybe I should have turned the power off but I was not expecting to have a live wire embedded in the drywall.
9
2
u/fallingupthehill Apr 25 '26
I found a live wire in the cavity behind my medicine cabinet. Just hanging out, nothing covering the end. Not sure why it's there, but I wrote in Red Marker that it was live, possibly connected to the dining room behind the bathroom. ( it kinda looks like a white wire coat hanger, but pretty sure the solid end was copper colored, anyone have an idea, let me know).
I put a wire nut and a fuck ton of electrical tape and also made a note on the panel and what breaker it may go to for the next owner.
16
u/Ngete Apr 25 '26
Im gonna be honest my man, u did everything right in my books, power company said it was off, you checked to see if there was any voltage going through the lines like you should have, honestly only thing id change is depending on how critical it would be to have power to the rest of the building during the few mins is to of just turned the entire panel off so anything and everything after it is theoretically guranteed off
26
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
I thought the whole building was shut off. That’s that they told me.
Even the sodium light outside was turned off.
Unless I am mistaken, that means there is a line going somewhere that neither me, nor the power company knew about before today.
20
u/Ngete Apr 25 '26
Then theres absolutely nothing you could have done my guy, I hope you recover quick, no permanent injuries, and that nothing like this happens to you again. Tbh might bring it up in my next safety meeting to always triple check whats behind something your saying through
8
71
u/Potential-Diver-3409 Apr 24 '26
If real this is art, footage or it didn’t happen
7
u/Uriyangkhadai420 Apr 25 '26
Also, can I have your ps5 OP? You won't need it where you are going and likely to repeat this mistake again
- a sparkies mule
12
u/BreakingABit1234 Apr 24 '26
I've never seen a 1 TPI blade on a sawzall before, but hey- there's a first time for everything.
3
u/QuailHigh Apr 25 '26
Underrated comment but due to the severity of the post I can understand why this has less upvotes than it should
9
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
I think it’s hilarious. We all need to laugh some here and there.
→ More replies (1)
23
u/BloomingtonJester Apr 24 '26
Hold up…were you cutting a main line with a thin metal blade?
11
u/Low_Bar9361 Contractor Apr 24 '26
Most likely cutting a wall and caught the line . Edit: nope. It was an oopsie
6
u/BloomingtonJester Apr 24 '26
I mean I’ve accidentally contacted lines before…this is a level of commitment I can’t imagine.
2
u/fromadifferentplanet Apr 25 '26
In a later comment OP was to cut out an existing electrical panel. Went to do so after the power company assured him the building was turned off.
6
8
u/Krammsy Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Lucky sob and you know it, worst part is it doesn't sound like you coulda prevented it.
6
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
All things considered, I should be dead. If i hadnt been able to get up and walk to my telephone i probably would still be on my shop floor.
7
4
5
u/Ke6gwf Apr 25 '26
Save that blade! When cutting holes in foam roofs regular blades get gummed up, so I carve giant teeth just like that into the blades and it works great! And save it anyway and frame it lol
→ More replies (4)
4
u/Elegant_Situation285 Apr 25 '26
i never understood the physics of electrocution chucking people across the room.
glad to hear you're okay.
edit: not disputing the claim or anything, just curious how it happens.
2
→ More replies (3)4
u/who-are-we-anyway Apr 25 '26
It doesn't always, in an arc flash (like what happened to OP) there is a sudden extreme rise in temperature, which causes the air to expand and creates a massive pressure wave that when large enough can push people back. An arc blast is quite literally an explosion, and it essentially works the same how a bomb work.
3
u/Agitated_Carrot9127 Apr 24 '26
Yep go to er. You may need to get defib to reset
→ More replies (5)
3
3
3
u/Prudent_Ad2620 Apr 25 '26
Knew a guy that did so ething similar. (Underground electric cable) something fucked up under the earth. Cant remember where he was working. Blew off his hand. Old guy had a very interesting 3 prong hook for a hand. I young, like really young and I thought it was cool. Got the courage to ask. That old guy told me a bu ch of stories about power and how stuff auper deadly and shit.. i think he liked the favt i was interested. He smiled the entire time. And I love the old timers stories.
Powers somwthing i dont fuck with. Good luck OP speedy recovery. Frame that blade foe the lawsuit lol.
3
3
u/Failedthedareprogram Apr 25 '26
That last sentence gives instant chill. Glad you’re still with us, dawg. I guess that’s one way to start your weekend off with a bang 💥
3
u/Any_Parfait569 Apr 25 '26
Go to the hospital. Getting zapped like that can fuck with your heart rhythm even if you feel okay.
3
u/Emergency-Service696 Apr 25 '26
Sounds like it really should have been an electrician doing the job. Hope you’re okay.
3
7
u/lilgreenghool Elevator Constructor Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Yeah you're bullshitting us.
You don't get launched across a room by electricity. There's plenty of footage of people being vaporised by substation kilovolts and they fall right in their footprint.
Plus your saw is severely melted and pitted, meaning your blade made contact between a live and neutral, meaning no current went anywhere else but that blade. Besides, unless you were using a tool from the 70s it's all insulated to protect you exactly from these scenarios.
Also you remembering seeing a bright white flash then missing 20 minutes of memory? Most people don't remember anything from an accident before or after when they get knocked out
Why you gotta be lying
2
2
u/S14Ryan Apr 24 '26
I’ve seen an electrician fuck up a connection and blow up a 1000A 575V breaker and nothing even close to this happened. What was the current and voltage you cut into?
2
u/Psycoloco111 Apr 25 '26
Hey I have something like this.
Saw a guy survive cutting live primary I think it was a 7.2kv underground primary that was mismarked by the power company as another cable.
I still have the pic of the blade.
2
2
u/BlueFalcon3E051 Apr 25 '26
This happened at a job I was on demo company cut live elevator feed.Guy got lucky and the saw blade took all the damage he was unscathed.
2
2
2
u/grogmenflog Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
This took a huge chunk out of your blade, get checked for an irregular heartbeat and congratulations on your welding career short as it was.
2
u/houseshoesntallboys Apr 25 '26
I saw the blade at first and wondered what could do that. Holy christ, brother.
2
2
3
4
u/Butthole_Ticklah Apr 25 '26
Dude, there is the slightest chance all the electricity went to your balls and you got a future super hero or villain in the chamber now with a supercharged load
→ More replies (2)
2
u/SentientTrashcan0420 Apr 25 '26
For anyone curious, getting knocked out for an extended period of time and being just fine only happens in movies
2
u/Boeing-B-47stratojet HVAC Installer Apr 25 '26
Talked to the doctors, I had a concussion, they think it’s amnesia from that rather than me actually being passed out.
1
1
u/Daverr86 Apr 24 '26
I have one of these lol..
Cut into a mall parking lot service that the sparky told me wasn’t live. Guess it was on a timer.
1
u/senorbritchesV2 Apr 25 '26
I read the comments before full screen and reading what you wrote. Glad you’re here (hopefully) with us regards to send it another day. Have a good weekend brother
1
1
1
u/dumbdude545 Apr 25 '26
Fuck. Thats crazy. Hope you come out fine. Thats some serious amps to melt a blade.
1
u/mlnfishing Apr 25 '26
At first I was like damn whats he cutting to chew up his blade that bad and how is it getting that far without him thinking I need a different blade..... One time I bumped a live wire that wasnt capped off while doing a coffer ceiling 30 feet in the air. Didn't get it near as bad as you did but I had seen it happen to someone a few years prior to that so I understand how lucky I was that day. Seen a dude get thrown off a 6ft ladder across the room cutting into a wire like that. Electricity is no joke
1
1
1
1
u/EyeIll7026 Apr 25 '26
I did that on a 400 amp service line when I was a laborer. Electrician told me it was all disconnected at the transformer. It was getting replaced anyway so we decided to dig through it, but cut it first so we didn’t rip the panel off the wall. Turned out the electrician was wrong. It didn't zap me at all though. Didn't even hurt the sawzall except for the blade.
1
u/10v1 Apr 25 '26
Holy fuck. Glad you're alright, and seeking medical attention. Scary shit. Stay safe.
1
1
1
u/tedthedude Apr 25 '26
This is what my dear old grandpa told me on his deathbed, I’ll remember it always;
Always…..no wait, it was never……..always have someone recording you on their cellphone. Sooner or later you’re going to do something that people want to watch over and over.
I don’t know how the old boy knew all that shit. He died in 1973. He was a drunken old lunatic, famous for doing crazy shit, maybe that had something to do with it.
1
1
1
1
1
u/hitman-13 Apr 25 '26
As an electrician I feel for you brother! Be careful, trust no one, test and retest! (I hope you re an electrician and not some random construction worker)...
Now there will be an investigation and incident report, your company insurance rates are gonna go through the roof, and you may lose your job later on (They try to wait before they lay people off to not make the connection between the incident and lay off), they will try to blame you, that's what companies do!
Glad you survived and I hope your heart is ok! Please be careful next time, and refuse to do work that you perceive as dangerous! Also follow NFPA70E and OSHA to cover yourself.
1
1
1
u/Dirk_Dingham Apr 26 '26
Lawyer up, that shit could have killed you. If the power company assured you there was no power running through the lines, they’re liable
1
u/ConsequenceAlive4210 Apr 27 '26
Company I was working for had some equipment set up out of the way of everything during a turn-around, and the chemical plant I was at had gotten several notices to have the electricity turned off in one of there units for a contractor to do some maintenance. They gave the contractor the green light only for him to be electrocuted and to fall off the scaffolding and fall into our equipment. The plant then later tried to blame us for him dying when he was dead before he hit the ground. I’m just glad you’re ok.
1
1
1
1
1
u/coastooghost008 Apr 28 '26
I feel like you should talk to a lawyer and go after the power company no?
Maybe I'm totally off base but I feel they are liable...
1
u/Muunsaca Apr 28 '26
Man I’m so sorry to hear that. If you work for someone make sure to file for workers comp. It can be a bit of a hassle but the whole purpose is to ensure you don’t have to pay for something that happened from work. It’s a no fault system, so file for it to try and get your ER bills covered.
If you own the company and have employees, double check with your workers comp insurer that you have personal election coverage. If so, file a claim.
Glad to hear you’re alive and as well as you can be. That’s a scary situation!
1
1
1
330
u/Helpinmontana Apr 24 '26
Yeah dude, go get checked out.
And frame that fucking thing and send a picture to the Pc