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A while after my father passed away, I went down to his welding shop to clean up. He'd been killing in a truck accident so it was just like he'd left it before he drove away. He had started working on an antique drill press that someone had converted over to electricity. Unfortunately, the way they'd wired it, it was spliced into a cord with dual pronged ends--one plugged into the drill, the other into the wall. Thinking it was just a regular drop cord, I picked it up and my finger touched the prongs.

I was holding a metal-bodied drill in my other hand. As soon as I touched the prongs, I could feel electricity flow through my right arm, across my chest, and out my left arm. My arm and chest muscles locked up so tight they felt like they were going to break and my vision started to go black. My hands were clenched and I couldn't use them. I fought down the initial panic, realized I could still move my legs somewhat, and began kicking at the cord until it jerked free of the wall receptacle.

I was shaking like a leaf, my chest and arms were so sore I could barely move, and my heart felt really funny. I made it inside and basically passed out on the couch. I had two small holes burned into one finger. They look like white spots now because they're covered over with scar tissue.

Electricity can be pretty darned dangerous.