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His injuries were significant, he initially died but a neighbour resused him, he lost 3 fingers on site, resulting in full arm amputation hours later, blew out a knee to the bone, hole in abdomen, singed liver, remaining arm deeply burnt and having repetitive ops to save it, shut his bowel and bladder down for a month , burnt his windpipe, burnt parts of the scalp and blew out the end of his big toe.
I beleive that the platform was activated in some way as he was touching it and tree when he felt himself 'flying' but am having trouble proving it, the energy safety people seem disinterested in talking to me and my son the 2 prime witnesses and just keep clinging to their 'we're within the legal distances 'claim, which actually i dont feeltheir measurements ARE accurate and have photos to prove it.
The pole contains lv and hv wiring but they insist it was the hv that did the damage.
At the time of the accident i also noted he was NOT holding on to anything and was suspended in midair via the current till it released him.
Trhere are flash burns on either side of the pole where they claim he must have been holding on at conducor level, but when me and my daughter saw him he was definitely in midair and not attatched to anything, vector claim this is not possible but i know what i saw and its my word against theirs
thanks for your help,
tracey
: --Previous Message--
: Several months ago my son was accidentally electrocuted by an 11kv
: powerline outside our house, and sustained serious injuries.
: The companys investigation claims he 'touched' a hv conductor, yet he
: still insists he was atop a tree on a safety platform and was getting
: DOWN from the platform to the tree when the shock occurred and never
: touched or climbed anything.
: When i saw him he was about 6m in the air and about 1m above the
: platform he claims to have been touching is this posible? Does anyone
: know how far hv power can arc and if its capable of pulling him up in
: this manner?
: all help appreciated,
: tracey
: :
: Hello Tracey,
: I'm sorry to hear about your son, and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.
: By no means am I an expert in utility procedures and accident
: investigations. I can describe the properties of high voltage AC and
: suggest some possibilities as far as what MAY have happened.
: First, 11 kV does not "jump" very far - typically less than an
: inch. Objects 1 meter away from a 11 kV line would not be in danger of
: having sparks jump to them from the line or of being pulled toward the
: line via electrostatic attraction. However, if momentary contact is
: accidentally made between the HV line and a partially grounded object, a
: conductive arc will form. The resulting arc may extend for a
: considerable distance, and the greater the current that flows through
: the arc, the longer the arc can become. Once the arc is initiated
: ("struck"), an 11 kV power arc can easily extend for feet, or
: even tens of feet. But the conductive object first needs to be within an
: inch or so of the HV line to "strike" the arc.
: An ungrounded electrically conductive object can become
: "charged", acquiring a significant voltage by simply being in
: close proximity to a high voltage power line via a process called
: induction. Induction can also cause a relatively low
: "charging" current to flow between the conductive object and
: ground when a conductive path is provided. This conductive path could be
: a person simultaneously touching the object and the tree, since the
: tree's moist tissues provide a fairly good connection to ground.
: Although the magnitude of the charging current is usually not fatal, it
: can be sufficient to startle the person or even cause sudden involuntary
: muscle contractions that may "throw" the person some distance.
: I obviously don't know the details about the platform, and the position
: of the HV line, your son, and the tree. However, if the platform was
: made of metal and was electrically insulated, it may have become
: electrically charged through induction. If the platform was a
: "cherry picker", the tires of the vehicle may have insulated.
: Once your son began descending from the platform, he may have received
: an electrical shock as he simultaneously touched the platform and the
: tree. If this shock was of sufficient magnitude to cause a sudden
: contraction of his leg muscles, he may have involuntarily
: "jumped" upward, causing him to then make more deadly contact
: with the HV line. The simultaneous contact with the tree and HV line
: would result in significant electrocution injuries.
: Again, this is only one of many possible scenarios. Another possibity is
: that one of the tree's branches brushed the HV line, causing a sequence
: of events which electrically shocked your son, causing him to
: involuntarily "jump" to the HV line.
: In any event, I hope your son makes a rapid and complete recovery.
: -- Bert --
:
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