A man was nearly electrocuted to death after being hired to hang Christmas lights on a large tree in Massachusetts, police said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday at approximately 10 a.m. when the Wellesley Police Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call reporting a man had possibly been electrocuted on Falmouth Circle in Wellesley, according to a statement from the Wellesley Police Department.
“The victim, a contractor hired by a resident, was installing holiday lights on a large tree using a pole,” authorities said. “It appears that the pole being used came into close proximity, or contact with, a primary electrical line on a utility pole. The victim appears to have then received a life-threatening electrical shock.”
The man who suffered the electric shock immediately fell unconscious, appeared to be having a seizure and had stopped breathing, police said.
The Wellesley Police Dispatcher subsequently provided the person who called the emergency services CPR instructions and the caller administered CPR until officers arrived on scene a few moments later.
“Wellesley Police Officers Tim Gover, Mike Pino, and Scott Whittemore were the first emergency responders to arrive on scene and observed that the victim appeared to be in sudden cardiac arrest,” police said. “A co-worker of the victim was performing chest compressions as instructed by Wellesley Police Dispatchers. Wellesley Police Officers took over CPR and began to clear the area, as the actual cause of the electrocution was unknown at the time.”
