Man's arms 'completely exploded' after touching 11,000 volts of electricity in Wolverhampton

*This article contains images of Darren Harris's third degree burns*

Darren Harris has been described as a 'walking miracle' after suffering third degree burns over half of his body after touching live electricity cables carrying 11,000 volts.

In 2020, Darren was inside an abandoned building in Wolverhampton, looking for illegal scrap metal, after, in his words, 'struggling for funds' during lockdown.

He assumed the power to the building was off, as it was due to be demolished, but when he put his left arm on the 11,000 volt switchboard it completely melted his forearms to the bone.

He was knocked out by the force of the electricity but remarkably despite the pain he was in, Darren managed to sprint out of the building. He said,

"I ran in front of the ambulance on its way to me to flag it down and both faces of the paramedics were as white as a ghost.”

He had burns to his face, arms, chest and abdomen. He lost his left thumb, both ears and the tip of his nose.

He was in a coma at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for 27 days before having all the flesh on his stomach, face and both arms removed and replaced with the skin from his legs.

In total he's had 23 operations and is currently waiting for a date for hand surgery.

The paramedics who were first on the scene have just met up with Darren four years on, and say it's a miracle he even left hospital.

Dr Richard Fawcett said: “Anything where you get this massive surge of electrical current going through the body causing such extensive tissue injury, the likelihood is you’re probably not going to leave hospital. So to see Darren a few years later doing so fantastically well is unbelievable.”

Paramedic Gary Williams said: “Matt and I both looked at each other and said where do we start? Darren’s arms had completely exploded.”

Despite being uncertain about if he'd ever be physically fit enough, he's managed to return to full time work and is self-employed as a scaffolder.

He's raised money for the Katy Piper Foundation which supports people living with burns injuries by doing a skydive and is a keen gym-goer.

He says, "I’m still here today, shining and trying to rebuild my life the best I can.

"I've rebuilt my character and my career, I've been given a second chance at life and I'm grateful to be here.

"I want to tell my story and inspire people and show them that they can get through the hardest thing in their lives and still come out the other side."

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