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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!!!
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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Thank God you are alright. That was a close call. My husband spent his career working with electricity. It can be very unforgiving. Rest well.
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Oh gee! I'm glad you're ok! I've encountered a couple of live gates before but none that extreme! I hope you recover quickly.
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What are your new super powers? Can you levitate metal items? Can you control computers? Can you shoot lightning bolts? Or did you get one of the lame ones like being able to grow your fingernails at 2 inches per hour or something... My super power is being able to sometimes know what is going to be on TV within the next 2 days. Yeah. Its one of the lame ones.
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No new super powers Charlie Horse. Just the same old ones
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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02-05-2017, 03:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-05-2017, 04:00 PM by IdahoNancy.)
My husband says to prevent this from happening again you may consider grounding the gates. Put a ground rod in the dirt near the hinge and attach a ground wire to the gait. He says to be really safe do both gates. You can use one ground rod run an insulated wire under ground to connect the second gate. Then you can never become the conductor. Keep in mind this will shut your system down by grounding it out if the gate becomes live. They do this with electric panels and the doors on them in the industry.
Thanks to your story I will be doing my this spring.
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That sounds like sound advice IdahoNancy - thanks!
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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Ok guys-- I just had to post this. The electric-fence-to-bare-bum-countdown girl video. Classic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcxwosGFPMI
This girl did get a super power. She turns green like the hulk.
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I think those two girls have too much time on their hands!
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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