Check your gates

[DownUnder Gal]

I wound up in the emergency room for a couple of hours on Friday.  I received a nasty electric shock when I was closing two gates together.  Turns out one gate was live and when I grasped the other I became a conductor between them.  Current went from one hand across my chest to the other hand. Felt like I'd been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer.  If I had only touched the live gate it would have been your regular electric fence zap.  Doctor said the shock I received was equivalent to being defibrillated - put my heart into temporary arrhythmia but ECG fortunately showed no permanent damage. Spent 36 hours lying down feeling very weak after with chest tightness and pain in my hands.  Neurapraxia apparently.  Started feeling kind of human again when I work up this morning but still on light duties.

Turns out one of the ratchet insulators was touching the ring lock fence which was touching one bolt of the gate assembly which made the gate itself live...  Note to self - regularly check gates with tester as well as fences. I feel very lucky!!!