Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 10:48:54 -0400
From: John Oberlin
Subject: condolences to John Oberlin, 19 May 20011
Greetings Friends,
My computer has been out of service for the past few weeks but after a long stay at the HP service center it is back and working again. I have not been keeping up with the Chatham Chatlist during the past few weeks but I intend to read all of the last three weeks in the course of the day today.
My first comment was to thank John Dykes for his kind note to me on 19 may. Several others have been equally kind with off line messages. Thank you.
I have one question that maybe someone on this list could help me with. While I know what happened to me with regard to actually being electrocution, I really have very little information about what happened to the power line and why I got electrocuted in the first place? It’s very aggravating to me personally not to know or understand how or why this happened to me. I think about it every day. I’m just now getting strong enough to be able to talk about it and ask questions, especially in a public forum like this one.
I appreciate your understand and indulgence to allow me to ask a couple of personal questions that have little value to the rest of the list. However, if I can learn something that would prevent this from happening to someone else that would be a small but valuable outcome
I’ve been told that this particular power line is supposed to turn itself off automatically when there is a short (like the line breaks and shorts to the ground)? Does anyone know if that’s true or how it works if it is true? I was evidently working under or around the wire hanging (or hidden) from a tree while it was off and then it turned on again and that’s when I was electrocuted. After I was electrocuted it stayed on for a little while and then shut itself off for good. Does anyone know how that could happen? I would appreciate any comments sent to me off line. No reason to drag the list down with my personal issues. Is there a former power lineman or engineer or other person that could explain what happened to me? Or anyone who could point me in the right direction to find out?
May thanks and best wishes to the list,
John