Scaffolder survived 48,000-volt surge - but came round with both hands on fire
A scaffolder had 48,000 volts of electricity surge through his body when a pipe he was carrying hit an overhead power line and came round to see his own hands on fire and one leg twisted the wrong way
Father-of-one Steve Gilmore had turned up for work one morning in November 2021, but what began as another routine day saw his life changed forever. Speaking for the first time since that dreadful day, the 38-year-old has revealed that despite the incredible efforts of surgeons performing more than a dozen operations to save his hands, he may still lose both of them.
Steve, from Ramsgate, Kent, told the Mirror: "It was just a normal Monday, I was carrying a scaffold tube at work and I was electrocuted. I remember coming round and I was on the floor, I had fallen off the roof. I knew immediately it was bad, I looked down at my hands and they were on fire, they were still smoking, my leg was facing the wrong way and that was smoking too. I knew it was serious.
Steve was in hospital for months (Steve Gilmore)
He faces losing his hands (Steve Gilmore)"I woke up again when I was in the local hospital with my partner and brothers there, I could vaguely hear them talking, and the next thing I remember is waking up again at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, since then it's been operation after operation. I was in hospital for months, the surgeons couldn't believe I was still alive."
Steve had been working for Canterbury City Scaffolding Ltd alongside a small team to erect a temporary roof scaffold at an open-air drinks depot in Snow Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, to provide shelter for operations during the winter months. Steve had been a scaffolder for more than 20 years, but his life has never been the same since.
Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea
Battling back to health, his hands were struggling to recover and he even had leeches placed on his wrists for more than a week to help his skin and donated skin attach. Steve would watch them crawl around his skin, going from small little worms to huge puffed up creatures full of his blood before nurses would replace them with the next, but the treatment failed to work.
In a last ditch attempt to save his hand, it was sewn to his stomach to enable the wound to heal and it was kept there for six weeks. Steve said: "It was one of the worst things that I have ever had to go through. The rest of my arm was strapped down to my body, imagine putting your hand in your pocket and keeping it there while trying to go about your day, it was surreal."
Steve's hand was sewn into his stomach (Steve Gilmore)
His injuries were extensive (Steve Gilmore)Steve ended up having his right thumb amputated, which was still pointing the wrong way and exposing him to deadly infections like sepsis. He now faces the unenviable choice between a hand transplant or a full amputation so he can have a prosthetic.
Steve said: "It still affects me every day, I'm there every time I look down at my hands, you need your hands for everything and until they are gone you don't realise how important they are. It's horrible having to rely on my partner, I have been employed since I left school at 15, always had a job - but to have that snatched away from me is devastating."
"When the accident happened my son Ethan was just nine years old and for him it was really hard, he is a strong lad but he's still only a child. The day before the accident we're in the garden playing football and the next minute he doesn't see me for weeks. I came home for Christmas for the day, but I was on so many drugs I was just lying on the settee and then back to the hospital the next day.
"Ethan has seen me at my lowest, my weakest and my most vulnerable and you wouldn't want your kid to see you like that. From working for 20 years, then being stuck in hospital for months, to now just being a stay at home dad, it's not how I pictured my life. I have been through it, but you learn to adapt and you have to keep going."
Steve's partner Vicky is now pregnant with their second child, which Steve said "really is the best news that we have had in the last two and a half years".
Steve Gilmore and partner Vicky (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Steve may still lose his hands (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Jamie Day, associate at Slater and Gordon, who are representing the family and seeking compensation on their behalf, said: “Steve went to work that day to do his job as he always did. It is unacceptable that through the sheer negligence of others he has been left with life changing injuries and is lucky to be alive. Steve and all employees have an expectation that their employers will take all reasonable steps to protect them from harm whilst at work.
“The Health and Safety Executive provide extensive guidance on work at height near live electricity, providing measures to be undertaken to protect individuals. In this incident, Steve’s employer’s failed to follow this guidance, which resulted in this serious incident. This is unacceptable and it is hoped that lessons can be learned from the failings in this incident, to ensure that someone else does not suffer serious injury in these circumstances.”
In September last year Canterbury City Scaffolding Ltd and their director Ian Pepper, 48, of Hoath near Canterbury pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Last week the company was fined £50,000 and Pepper was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Boy, 3, dies after being left in sweltering car in 34C heat 'throughout the day'
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
