The day that changed everything

Feb 5th, 2015 – Taylor Wild Work Accident

My Fiancée (4 month’s pregnant at the time) and I just finished a morning workout, we picked up food to make lunch and dinner and were driving home when my phone rang. It was work, a residential pad mount transformer had blown up and they needed additional manpower to complete the call. I dropped Lindsay off at home with all the groceries, she was going to cook for when I got home from work that day. Little did we know I would not be returning. As I drove into work, I recorded a video singing our favorite song and sent it to her. When I arrived at work approximately 30 minutes after the call the crew was at the shop, I jumped in the work truck and received a briefing on the way to site (5 minutes). Upon arriving at site, I was greeted by a co worker who was working on the transformer. The old transformer had already been removed and the new one seated on the existing pad (2400V single phase, loop feed). It was evident by the presence of oil that the transformer had failed/blown up. The only thing left to do was repair/re-terminate the two 5kV conductors left laying on the ground. As I was prepping and moving things around, I had my rubber gloves on as is standard practice near energized equipment or until verified. When it came time to start working, I asked the co-worker who had been on site prior to me. “is it safe to work, has everything been de-energized” I almost asked with hesitation given the situation and work that had already been done, the reply was instant. “yes, we are good”. At this point it was 50/50. One cable was de-energized one cable unknowingly while lying in the snow was still energized. I helped my co-worker prep cable#1. The load-break pin had melted back onto the conductor the elbow slid off the cable without much effort. I than grabbed cable #2 and inspected it. The cable was burnt and needed to be re-terminated as precaution. At this point I had only my leather gloves on. I took the load break elbow tool and inserted it onto the insulated portion of the pin. I looked down the elbow, lined up the tool and pushed it onto the pin. I froze. My entire body felt like I was being consumed by a colony of killer bee’s, I clued in a second or two later, I was being electrocuted, time slowed I could feel every single cycle jolt through my body, I began to scream a hollowing scream long and drawn out. I quickly started a self assessment, my legs no movement, my arms no movement, my body no reaction whatsoever. I was stuck. I looked around panicked and saw my co worker who had ran to the truck 20’ away he looked like a ghost, while acting quickly he grabbed a broom stick from the truck and pried me off of the line that I was stuck on for 15-20 seconds cooking from the inside out. I fell into the snowbank beside the road where I laid until the paramedics arrived 5-10 minutes later. During this time, I remember my co-workers coming over one at a time. Indicated not to touch me. I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone and dialed my Fiancée, I told her briefly. “I got shocked and I love you” I dropped the phone. While being carted via ambulance to the hospital the paramedics began taking off my boots. A plume of smoke and the smell of burnt flesh was present. I had 3 toonie sized holes in each foot, 6 total. I arrived at the hospital, their seemed to be a lacking presence of urgency. Slowly people started to pass by, firefighters, police, doctors everyone wanting to see what happened. Then my father, who works in the industry showed up. I remember the sheer look of terror on his face when he realized what happened. My beautiful Fiancée showed up after with her parents (mother in law being a nurse from St. Mike’s) the look of horror present, they instinctively jumped into action. I had been at the hospital for two hours at this time and nothing had been done, I re do a self assessment. My legs and feet are tight, I cant move them, my chest is tight and I’m physically/mentally exhausted, the only true indication of internal damage being CK levels elevated from a normal 150 to 3,800. My mother in law made one phone call to Sunnybrook and within 5 minutes Air ORNGE was on its way. This is when it all hit me. This is no joke. To keep it shortened I went through two surgeries and 6 months of physical rehab coupled with over a year of mental rehab and to this day still suffer mentally, the one thing that helped me reconcile was a trauma counselor telling me I had an out of body experience no reactionary or motor control over my body whatsoever, helpless. It cost me , my immediate family, and my extended family dearly by taking an insurmountable mental toll.. I was not mentally present for the birth of my first child, my wedding and caused a great amount of suffering for those I love the most. Stay safe people. Follow procedures, have trust in your workers and those around you BUT VERIFY FOR YOURSELF ALWAYS, it is your life not theirs.