Randy Newton was installing windows on a two-story building with another worker when he accidentally swung the lift he was standing on into a power line. Doctors say it was nothing short of a miracle that he lived. His story serves as a warning to people who work near power lines.
The other worker wasn’t hurt.
Newton awoke three weeks after the March 2003 incident. A TV was on in his hospital room. He could hear it, but he couldn’t see it. He was blind.
He’d lingered between life and death for weeks. Doctors performed several surgeries to save his left arm and hand.
Newton had to relearn how to walk, speak and do other things that had been automatic in the past.
Doctors restored some of his vision, but he can only see shadows and silhouettes.
He fell into depression and took his anger out on his family. Somehow his marriage survived. The divorce rate for people in these situations in around 90%.
Newton was fortunate to survive. With the help of a local center for the blind, he’s learned new skills and gone back to school.
But he’ll never be able to regain the rest of his vision. His life has been changed forever.
