NH Woman Says 'Count Your Blessings' After Husband Shocked Hanging Lights
BOSTON (CBS) -- A Merrimack, N.H. man is recovering after receiving a powerful shock while hanging Christmas lights outside his home.
Karen LeClair says she was in the kitchen when she heard a powerful explosion.
"I looked out and saw a cloud of smoke and there was that wiry burning acrid smell," she recalls.
LeClair ran outside to find her husband, 54-year-old Bill Desroche, semi-conscious on the ground.
"He was laying flat and then his eyes started rolling back in his head. I slapped his face, saying 'Stay with me William, stay with me.'"
Desroche was using a 24-foot aluminum pole trying to reach the top of a tall evergreen to hang Christmas lights.
It was a breezy day and LeClair believes the wind caught the pole, forcing him back far enough to touch a nearby high tension wire that was energized to nearly 20,000 volts.
"Electricity is always looking for a good path to ground, and an aluminum pole makes a good path," said Merrimack, N.H. Fire Capt. Matthew Duke.
Fortunately for Desroche, the pole was also touching the ground at the moment of impact.
"When the electricity went through, it grounded out in the ground, his body didn't take the full impact," said LeClair.
It was enough to burn his hands and feet and doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston are also checking for internal injuries.
The massive display of lights is a holiday tradition at the home, but before Christmas, there's Thanksgiving that he pulled through.
"It is quite frightening. It makes you count your blessings and makes you realize how previous life really is," said LeClair.