Do NOT try this at home...
{short description of image} In early 1981, despite some effort at safety I managed to land an antenna mast I was in the process of installing into contact with a 7,260 volt high voltage power line which fed the subdivision electricity. May I suggest not trying this at home folks?
{short description of image} This picture is of the section of antenna mast that came in contact with the power line. As you can see, it burned a hole right through the pipe.
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This picture is of the section of antenna mast that I was holding onto at the time I was electrocuted. Those burns on the pipe were from the heat generated as a result of the electricity flowing from the pipe into my body through my hands.
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Although apparently not for long, I was standing here. These arrows mark the spots where my feet were on terra firma at the time of electrocution. Since a very loud explosion followed shortly after intial contact as a result of a nearby transformer blowing up about 50 feet behind me, there were a number of neighbors outside in their yards who looked my way to see what the explosion was. According to them, what they saw at that moment was my body in the air completely above the roof of the workshop building very near where I was standing (the peak of that roof was at 14 feet). They then watched me land in a puff of dirt followed by several moments of me lying there with smoldering plumes of smoke coming off my body before they saw me stand up and proceed to extinguish several fires that had been ignited by the accident. After completing that chore I then went into the house to shut off the circuit breakers feeding the workshop building and shortly afterward I came back out with a cold bottle of Pepsi in hand and sat down against the fence to await the emergency crews' arrival and my subsequent departure to the hospital.
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