I am posting this just in case any of you out there don’t know how serious an electrical shock from spark plug really is, I didn’t.
On Saturday a was fixing a Villiers engine for a friend. I got it running but the engine was racing so I leaned over to reach the carb.
IDIOT I put my hand on the spark plug, that was not the problem as I have had many belts from an engine running full chat and yes it hurts and a curse or two and it’s over.
The thing that made this one different is that was knelling on the exhaust pipe, the spark exited my leg via my knee and OMG, I have had two heart attacks but I have never felt pain like that when my thigh muscle went into spasm, the pain was the most serious cramp type pain I have ever felt.
I fell to the floor and could only think of what I was going to do next as my leg was completely dead an I could not move it.
Eventually I dragged myself to the bench and pulled myself up. I still could only use one leg and so I hobbled to the house holding on to the fence. When I arrived in the house the wife was full of sympathy and clipped me round the head and threatened the garage and all it’s contents with total destruction by fire.
I then spent the rest of the day trying to walk off the pain thinking that the cramp would wear off (WRONG).
Sunday morning came and I was still in pain with the cramp but kept telling the wife that it was feeling a bit better and I would keep exercising it until the cramp disappeared, she mentioned A & E and I said that was not not going to sit around in the Hospital for 4 hours (MISTAKE).
Monday morning came and I was still suffering but I had work to do and spent the obligatory 1 and 1/2 hours driving to the airport. When I arrived I was in agony and instead of using my own car park space I parked in the Disabled bay which was 50 yards closer to my office. I had to use the lift to go to the 1st floor (I never use lifts, even for the top floors). On arriving in the office I rang my Doctor to see if I could have an emergency appointment latter that day. After explaining what had happened he told me to go immediately to the nearest hospital A & E? When I arrived I explained to the receptionist the problem and immediately shown into an examination room (NO WAITING?).
A Doctor came within 5 minutes, I again explained what had happened, he asked me to de-bag so he could look at my leg and then immediately called for a nurse to take bloods and put me on a drip. I was completely gob-smacked when he explained to me that I was on the verge of having my leg amputated and he would have to await for the bloods to be examined before making a decision on what the outcome was going to be, he also advised me to give my wife a call so she could be in attendance.
After six hour lying in a bed with the drip my bloods returned and confirmed that I did have serious muscle burns and there was some tissue damage.
The Doctor eventually agreed to let me home with pain killers and some anti-inflammatory pills on the proviso that I was to spend the next few days in bed with my leg up drink plenty of liquids. I had only just made the Hospital in time and another few hours of not having the dead tissue dealt with would have lead to gangrene and thus amputation of my very precious leg.
This should be a warning for any of us old or young who think that they are indestructible having been hit many times with the old HT lead.
If you have muscular spasm GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil
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