A man who became a "human fireball" when he was electrocuted by an 11,000-volt shock has described the moment he came back to life after laying "dead" for several minutes.
The Mirror reports Darren Harris, who is 29, and from Middlesbrough, was urban exploring in an abandoned steelworks in Wolverhampton when came across a switchboard and electric mains in November 2020. Dan assumed the mains and switchboard had been turned off, as the steelworks was set to be demolished.
But when he put his hand on a live copper bar and was instantly "catapulted" across the room by the voltage. Despite this and being on fire, Darren was able to remain conscious and flagged down an ambulance passing by chance.
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Eighteen months after the accident, doctors are calling him a medical miracle as Darren has survived third-degree burns across 47% of his body. For several minutes Darren said he was laid dead on the floor, but recalls the moment he came back to life and saw his whole body on fire.
He said: "I put my hand on the bar and my body was catapulted across the room. My life flashed before my eyes and I was dead for a few minutes. I don't know what brought me back but I remember waking up and my whole body was on fire, I was a human fireball."
"I ran for my life and somehow managed to scale a 10ft fence not knowing the damage that had already been done to my body. My forearms were completely debrided, I could see right to the bone. My face was hanging off like a flap and my windpipe was exposed."
"I was stood on the side of the road for a couple of minutes when an ambulance came round the corner. I threw myself in front of it and the next thing I remember is waking up 27 days later."
Darren was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he had been placed in an induced coma as doctors battled with his injuries including multiple organ failure and sepsis. Doctors performed 23 surgeries in total including a craniotomy and applying artificial skin to his burns.
Darren claims the surgeons told him they had "never seen anything like it" in their 30-year-long careers. He said: "The doctors and nurses couldn't believe it, that I even survived the initial injury, never mind the fact that I flagged down a passing ambulance and then survived the gruelling surgeries. They told me I shouldn't be here, I'm not just lucky to be alive, I'm one in a million."
As a result of his injuries, Darren now has no nose or ears and has also lost mobility in both hands, leaving him unable to work. Disfigured by his injuries, Darren has battled depression and suicidal thoughts, but says he came to realise he had been given a "second chance".
Now, he has launched a GoFundMe to pay for pioneering surgery to 3D print a live reconstruction of his ears using his stem cells. Darren said: "I have been through the worst pain in my entire life, I can't even describe it, and was left in a terrible state.
"I've struggled to go out and socialise, I'm conscious about the way I look and I've thought about suicide during my recovery. But then I realised those surgeons didn't put all that time into me and save my life for me to waste it."
"I have been given a second chance at life and I'm grateful to be here. I want to tell my story and inspire people and show them that they can get through the hardest thing in their lives and still come out the other side."
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