Bradley Richardson is lucky to be alive.
He was doing a quick job lubricating a scissor lift on a farm near Clare in South Australia's mid-north during 2018 when his life changed forever.
The scissor lift was raised into the high voltage power line, connected with the line and earthed through the farm labourer.
Some 19,000 volts went through his body three times in 11 seconds.
"It blew both my feet totally apart, burnt most of my body," Mr Richardson said.
"Thirty-five per cent of my body was skin grafted after it. It's the most insane heat you'll ever feel.
"It's horrible. You could smell the hair and the flesh burning off me."
Mr Richardson was in a coma for seven days.
He lost both his legs, suffered organ damage and underwent more than 20 operations.
'Understand it will hurt'
Mr Richardson has been speaking about his experience to raise awareness and remind people not to be complacent about farm safety.
"It doesn't matter how long you've been doing your job. Pay attention every single time," he said.
"Don't be complacent. Understand that it will hurt. A lot of things in this industry will kill us.
"We've learned to live with that but we need to live with it, not die from it."
Mr Richardson will be undertaking public campaigns and promotional work, especially during harvest, to remind farmers about the dangers associated with power lines in particular.
More accidents during seeding
South Australia averages about 20 accidents involving power lines each year.
This year there were 13 incidents where farm machinery hit power lines during seeding.
The increasing incidents have SA Power Networks head of corporate affairs Paul Roberts concerned as it ramps up a power line safety campaign.
"Certainly this year we've had more in the first part of the year than we've ever had before," Mr Roberts said.
"We think that's reflecting the trends that are happening in farming with auto-steering and GPS reliance and the fact farmers aren't actually coordinating and putting in the locations of power poles and their lines in their GPS systems."
Mr Roberts hoped Bradley's story would reinforce the message that farmers needed to be more aware of power lines.
"I'm hoping his story will make people stop and think before they enter the paddock to do harvest or to sow their crops," he said.
"Think about, 'What is the location of the powerlines in the area that I'm about to work in? Do I know where they are and am I ready for them?'."
In a better place
Mr Richardson has learnt to use a wheelchair and prosthetic legs but said it had been a long, hard road.
He felt he was in a place where he could make a difference to help others and wanted to do more work around farmer safety.
"I didn't want to start doing this [awareness campaign] while I wasn't ready to and while I was going through such hardcore depression over it," Mr Richardson said.
"I have my down days but I have more good than bad."
Mr Richardson is also working with Worksafe SA to ensure power lines have proper signage and warnings.
