By Rachel Morton
Two men are in a critical condition in Auckland Hospital after a flagpole on the back of their truck touched powerlines.
The men were shocked and workers in nearby buildings rushed to help save them.
It was an electric shock so bad it ripped the clothes from one man’s body. He was taken away by ambulance along with his co-worker who had been in the truck with him.
The pair had just erected two flagpoles but as they drove off a third, on the back of the truck, hit the overhead power lines.
11,000 volts suddenly earthed.
Although it was a shock which injured both men, for one of them it was a second jolt which improved his chances.
A shock from physiotherapist Andy McGregor with a defibrillator revived the man.
“When I arrived there was a guy on the ground already having CPR done to him.
I had a defib kit so I put that on him and followed the instructions and then yeah, it kicked off. It went.
“He spewed and we kept doing CPR on him and we just kept going until the ambulance arrived.”
Mr McGregor had grabbed the defibrillator and a first aid kit as he ran from his practice.
“Everybody rushed out of the building, the electricity went off in the whole building and the whole complex so we rushed out and people were going crazy.”
Not everyone on the street reacted so quickly.
Most people who work here on Normanby Road say they did not see or hear anything. They thought there had just been a power cut and it was not until they heard sirens that they knew something was wrong.
The fire service, police, ambulance and lines company Vector were called to the scene.
The men are understood to be 41 and 50.
One of the men has been transferred to the Middlemore Hospital burns unit and it is likely the other man will also be transferred later tonight.
3 News