We had a huge family scare this past weekend. On Sunday afternoon Heath and Kade were outside working on a project together. We have a creek in our back yard that has some concrete in it and it's washing away the hill, so Heath brought home a jackhammer from work to break it up so it will flow better and prevent the washout. It was an electrical jack hammer, so he had Kade holding the cord out of the water while he hammered away. Sis and I watched for a little bit and then came inside. They were outside for at least an hour. I was just getting out of the shower when I heard this screaming. I didn't know who it was at first and then realized it was in our house. I quickly got halfway dressed and came out of the bedroom to see Kade standing at the bottom of the stairs screaming in a panic "Dad just got electrocuted!" Luckily, sis was taking a nap, so I started panicking while trying to get dressed. I ran down the stairs and immediately told Kade to go unplug the cord to the jackhammer which was plugged into the kitchen outlet. I then told him to call 911 and then go get Jeff, our next door neighbor. I had about 50,000 things running through my head at the same time...am I going to find my husband dead? Am I going to have to do CPR? What if he doesn't have a regular heart rhythm...I don't have an AED? What if I can't pull him out of the creek? I ran out of the house...while still trying to get my shirt on...and heard Heath moaning. I was glad to hear him moaning, but knew he was not OK. He thought he was yelling for help, but he definitely was not yelling. As I got over to the creek I saw him sitting on the cement block with his head down, covered in muddy water and unable to talk. I helped pull him out of the creek and immediately starting asking him if he was OK and to sit still. Kade came running in the backyard with 911 on the phone. He did such an amazing job! He was so clear and precise with the dispatcher. He was able to tell her what happened, our address and where we were located in the yard. I then took over the call and shortly the rescue workers arrived along with some of the neighbors. Heath was able to tell me what happened. He said he was almost done and the jackhammer stopped working, so he spun it around and saw that a button popped out so he went to push it back in and that's when it grabbed him. He couldn't let go and fell backwards in the creek. He was being electrocuted from that time until Kade came and got me and I was able to tell him to go unplug the cord. I'm guessing it was probably 2 minutes or so although it felt like 20! Heath remembers just laying in the creek unable to move, speak, or do anything. He just lyed there listening to the hum of the electricity running through the water and his body. He could feel himself starting to black out...he thought he was going to die. He could tell when Kade pulled the cord because he remembers gasping for a huge breath of air. Heath would be dead today if Kade wouldn't have been out there. I never would've know what was going on. Heath was taken by ambulance to Methodist. We spent 5 hours in the ER. He had a CT scan, EKG, and 2 rounds of blood work done. Everything came back OK! He was very stiff and sore for a couple days, but otherwise physically fine. He's just been working through the mental aspect of almost dying. We all realize how lucky he was and that God was definitely looking out for him. It wasn't his time and I know he is meant for something big yet in his lifetime. We appreciate all the thoughtful calls, emails, texts, visits, prayers, and phone calls. It means a lot to us! Bless you all!!
The Mains
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