Electrician hit by 11,000 volt blast saved by his WATCH

Daily Mail-- An electrician has revealed that his wristwatch might have saved his life after he was hit with 11,000 volts while working.

Steve Edwards, 51, spent five days in intensive care being treated for burns to his face, chest, neck and arms after the horrific incident.

The father-of-four, from Bristol, puts his early recovery after the shock on September 18 down to the skill of nurses - and his metal watch.

The cable jointer, from Bedminster Down, was connecting a high-voltage switch, thinking the power was off, when the charge went through his body.

Mr Edwards said: 'I should have died from an 11,000-volt explosion - I think it was my watch that took the electricity down to earth rather than my body.

'After I was burnt, I was fully aware of what was going on - I can remember coming away and trying to put myself out and then my colleagues threw me on the floor.'

After being put into an induced coma, his burns were cleaned and grafts carried out.

The medical team cleaned his burns, which required him to be anaesthetised because the skin was so delicate, and grafts were carried out.

His wife Lynn, 41, a part-time civil servant, said she barely recognised him when she first saw him.

She said: 'They told me he had 20 per cent burns and that the neck was pretty bad but that although his face was burnt, it was going to be all right.'

That was difficult to believe at first, she added.

Now Mr Edwards returns to Frenchay Hospital twice a week for physiotherapy and other appointments.

The family is to raise money for the Great Western Air Ambulance because they were so impressed by the team that airlifted him after the disaster.