A 46-YEAR-OLD man was “lucky to be alive” after he was electrocuted when he touched an exposed wire while cutting the grass.

James Hore

A 46-YEAR-OLD man was “lucky to be alive” last night after he was electrocuted when he touched an exposed wire while cutting the grass.

The man, from Clacton, was mowing his lawn yesterday afternoon when he accidentally cut through the wire to his lawnmower.

He then picked up the piece of exposed wire and was given a “serious and sustained” shock which left him attached to the power supply.

A neighbour of the man in Bocking's Grove heard the screams and rushed out to pull the plug from the socket, saving him from near-certain death.

The East of England Ambulance Service were called to the scene and the man was taken to Colchester General Hospital suffering from a burnt hand, a head injury and a cut back as well as an increased heart rate.

However, last night his condition was described as “stable and not life-threatening” following the drama at 12.20pm.

Trevor Redburn, a manager with the ambulance services, said: “Fortunately the man's next door neighbour heard his screams and jumped over the fence to pull the plug out of the electrical socket and call for help.

“This patient has been extremely lucky because shocks like this can and do kill.

“My advice to people using all types of electrical appliances is, if it becomes damaged, ensure the power supply is switched off at the source, and also ensure any extension leads are unplugged before attempting to recover the damaged equipment.

“Using an extension lead with a circuit breaker can also help ensure safety. Unfortunately in this case, the circuit breaker on the extension lead was broken, so I would advise people to test circuit breakers regularly, as directed by the manufacturer.

“In this case, the patient is lucky to be alive - the situation could easily have turned into a tragedy. I sincerely hope we won't see any more cases like this over the summer.”