Wellesley, MA Christmas Light Electrocution Injury – NBC Boston

A worker was seriously injured when he was electrocuted while hanging Christmas lights on a tree in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning, police said.

According to Wellesley police, the contractor was taken to the hospital from Falmouth Circle with non-life-threatening injuries following the incident around 10 a.m.

“He’ll be very lucky if he survives,” said Wellesley Police Officer Tim Gover. “He took a big hit.”

According to police, the man was using a pole to hang the lights and it came near or touched a power line on a utility pole, which shocked him. He was on foot, circling these pine trees when it happened.

“The pole he used was about 34 feet long, and it either came in close proximity to or actually touched a main that was just a few feet from the tree,” Gover said. “And he was completely incapacitated by it.”

The victim, a 22-year-old man who works for NZ Power Wash in Framingham, collapsed.

A person who called 911 to report the injury said he was unconscious and did not appear to be breathing. A colleague was ordered to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and when police officers arrived they discovered he had apparently suffered cardiac arrest.

Gover and his team used an automated external defibrillator and on the third try he developed heart palpitations.

He was taken to Newton Wellesley Hospital and then taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, police said.

A colleague who witnessed the incident declined to comment but said the man was recovering in hospital.

OSHA, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is investigating the incident along with police and the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant.

“The Wellesley Police, Fire and WMLP departments extend our thoughts and prayers to the victim and his family during this tragic incident,” police said in a statement.