Support Jason's Rehabilitation following his electrocution

THE STORY OF JASON'S ELECTROCUTION

On Saturday 6th April, my loving, kind-hearted brother was cleaning windows for a customer in a seemingly safe domestic neighbourhood when he was electrocuted by a 33,000 volt overhead power cable which was extremely close to the property without any insulation or warning signs. Jason's pole did not touch the cable and yet the high voltage of the line caused the electricity to arc, causing a jumping affect which in turn passed through my brothers 'insulated' carbon-fibre water-fed pole.

The strike catapulted him meters away, blowing off his shoes and leaving him unconscious until found by the homeowner. Jason was airlifted to Southmead Hospital where he undertook the immediate emergency amputation of his left forearm and was placed in ICU under a sedative state.

Jason is a devoted husband to wife, Sara of 6 years and father to identical twin 18 month old girls as well as their 7 year old daughter. Described by many of those who have had the pleasure of knowing Jason as 'the nicest guy you would ever meet', Jason is a keen fisherman, a charitable Freemason and an avid Arsenal supporter with an infectious laugh and a gentle, kind loving nature. Jason was working weekends to help support his family during the current cost of living crisis and works as a self-employed window cleaner in the Westbury, Wiltshire area. This incident has caused him to have life threatening injuries which will change the course of his life as well as his young family's forever.

With electrocutions of this severity, we had to take each day as it came. Within just 4 weeks of the accident, Jason underwent 20 major surgeries which included the emergency amputation to his left forearm and also the removal of 5 toes plus a significant amount of dead tissue, tendons and muscle from both of his legs which have rendered him unable to walk. In the immediate aftermath, it was an extremely scary and uncertain time, with concerns for Jason's internal organs, especially his kidneys, as well as fighting off numerous infections and lethal blood clots which placed him under critical risk during his time in the Intensive Care Unit.

Where we are now

Jason was able to return home on 12 July after spending 3 and a half months in Southmead Hospital. Whilst he has been able to return home to his wife and young family, he has required significant adaptations to his home (which is a three story townhouse and extremely difficult for Jason to manoeuvre around).

With the generosity and support generated from this Go Fund Me page and the community generally, Jason has been able to have a stair lift installed to enable him to go upstairs, as well as purchase an electric wheelchair and a mechanical chair and bed.

Whilst the enablement centre (which specialised in prosthetic limbs) have been an incredible support to Jason, recently fitting him with a new prosthetic arm, this is the most basic of its kind under the NHS and is mostly for aesthetic purposes, albeit it has enabled Jason to manually mould it into shape to help him to grip things for various daily tasks. Upon enquiring for the costs associated with a bionic prosthetic arm, we have discovered that they cost in the region of £25,000 and that they only have a guaranteed of between 5-8 years, meaning that he will require a new one every few years.

Jason's current home still requires further adaptions, namely a walk in wet room to enable him to shower by himself without having to rely on anyone else. Various quotes point to the cost of this work being around £8k-£12k.

There will no doubt be further costs for Jason, including an adapted vehicle for transportation.

Needless to say, Jason's ability to financially support his young family not only whilst he is continuing to undergo treatment, but also for the foreseeable future, is going to be extremely difficult. Naturally, given the extent of Jason's life changing injuries, he will no longer be physically able to continue with his small cleaning business which he has spent over 2 years building himself.

This Go Fund Me page has been created to provide a way for those who have been touched by Jason’s story and who would like to provide support at this incredibly difficult time.

Your support will mean the world to us all and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your contributions however big or small.

Raising Awareness and campaigning for change in the industry

We also hope that this campaign will help to create awareness around the dangers of working in close proximities to high voltage power lines, which may not always present themselves as an immediate threat to life, especially those within the vicinity of domestic premises. Jason's story is a harsh realisation of the dangers these uninsulated power lines pose and is a warning to us all of the potential for electricity to 'jump', even when the victim has not come into direct contact with it. Jason and his father John, continue on their campaign for window cleaning safety standards to be changed to make it compulsory for the second part of a carbon-fibre pole to be insulated, which will inevitably save more lives.

Supporting the Charities who saved Jason's life

10% of all donations will go to The Southmead Hospital Charity (Registered No. 1055900)

10% of all donations will go to The Wiltshire Air Ambulance (Registered No. 1144097)

80% of the remaining donations will go toward Jason's rehabilitation, immediate care and needs.