After getting dangerously close to electrification by cleaning up her artificial garden, a woman claims a pair of $37 sliders saved her life. When Kerry Tattersley, 36, went to remove the extension cord from her extension, she accidentally touched a live current while cleaning the synthetic turf in her garden. The instant electrical jolt from the contact was strong enough to knock her against the perimeter wall.
Kerry Tatterley
Kerry, a support specialist from Halifax, Yorkshire, told Metro: “My extension cord was plugged in while I was vacuuming my artificial grass in the garden. When I attempted to unplug the extension after clearing the lawn, the rear plastic piece must have come loose”. She continued: ‘I didn’t know so I grabbed it, but as I was holding the hold it fell, electrocuting me and sending me flying into my wall. My whole body was in excruciating pain and my arms felt like they were being shocked by electricity. “I was pacing in my kitchen. Although my arms were shaking, I was unable to control them. It seemed like I had no power over them. It hurt like an eight on a scale of ten,” she added.
Kelly was badly shaken by the incident and had to be hospitalized, but she was even more horrified to learn how much worse it could have been. Kerry was slow to get medical help, and it wasn’t until she started having trouble breathing that a friend persuaded her to dial 111. Due to the anchoring effect provided by the rubber flip flops she wore, she had avoided more serious injuries.
She added “When my friend advised me to call the hospital while I was on the phone, I said, ‘It will be fine. However, I started breathing a bit oddly, almost like I was losing my breath, so she advised me to call 111 if I didn’t want to go to the hospital and just get some advice. I obeyed and the operator asked me to stay put while an ambulance was dispatched, to get my daughter out of bed in case I became unconscious and what if I did. She was escorted to Calderdale Royal Hospital by the operator on the other end of the phone after an ambulance was dispatched to her home.
“The paramedic took my heart rate and blood pressure when they arrived, checked my blood pressure, then asked the usual questions about what had happened, if I had taken any medication and how I was feeling physically. in pain. They went on to tell me that I had to go to the hospital because of my rapid pulse, slightly elevated heart rate, and cold hands. As soon as Kerry arrived at the nearby hospital, she was given paracetamol, seen within ten minutes, and an electrocardiogram (ECG). Her Puma sliders, which prevented her from being grounded by the current and causing nerve damage to her arm, were blamed by doctors for saving her life.
Kerry said: ‘The doctor asked what happened before describing the effects of painful shock. Is this what you were wearing at the time, he then asked. He said, “Well, you’re lucky because they probably saved your life,” and I said, “Yeah.” I was really surprised. Kerry’s life was spared, doctors say, by the rubber sliders serving as insulation as they prevented the electrical charge from the socket from passing through her body to the ground.
