Lineman critical after Wakulla shock
Karl Etters, Democrat staff writer 5:51 p.m. EDT September 14, 2016
A Comcast cable contractor was shocked by a live electrical wire in Wakulla Tuesday while cutting tree limbs and restringing Hurricane Hermine-damaged lines.
According to Wakulla County Undersheriff Trey Morrison, lineman Tad Shappard came into contact with a high-voltage wire that feeds a power substation near New Light Church Road while working in a bucket truck.
Morrison said his life was saved by his partner, who lowered the bucket and pulled the truck away from the lines before starting CPR, and a passerby who called 911.
“If it wasn’t for his partner and a passerby, he wouldn’t be alive,” Morrison said. “He had stopped breathing and was unresponsive.”
Shappard and his partner were being contracted from a utility company (Southeast Utility) out of Georgia to replace the cable lines, Morrison said.
He was flown to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare in critical condition and then transported to UF Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Shappard’s injury, after most of the power restoration efforts have been completed, was surprising, Morrison said.
Power outages across Wakulla County were the focus over the past two weeks, with more than 700 utility workers restoring electricity without a major injury.