A man who had sparks flying from his skull after grabbing a high-voltage wire and being blasted off the sixth floor has rebuilt his life to become a successful businessman.
Daniel Londes was 19 and working on electrical cabling at a building in Goiania, Brazil, in September 2012, when a wire touched a high-voltage transformer and sent 35,700 volts, around 160 times the power of a standard household socket, tearing through his body.
The current entered through his right hand, exploded from the inside, travelled through his chest, puncturing part of his lung, and exited in multiple directions simultaneously, blowing sparks out through his left arm, his back, and his skull. The force of the discharge then threw him from the sixth floor, according to local media.
That he survived either the shock or the fall is considered medically extraordinary. That he survived both is the reason doctors still use his case as a study in what the human body can endure.
He hit the ground with catastrophic injuries. His Achilles tendon was destroyed. His right hand and part of his forearm later had to be amputated in a procedure that alone lasted 26 hours.
Over the following years, he underwent 112 surgeries in total, including 42 skin grafts, many taken from his own scalp to repair tissue burned away by the current. Doctors warned him he might never walk properly, and that the shock had likely left him sterile.
He proved them wrong on both counts. He has two children. He walks, runs, rides horses and competes in volleyball tournaments.
Today, at 33, Londes runs a construction company and manages cattle on a farm in Mossamedes. He plays guitar, trumpet and performs as a DJ, having taught himself left-handed after losing his dominant right hand.
About 30 per cent of his body is covered in scar tissue, which he says draws stares in public.
He has learned to ignore them and says he still feels his missing hand.
The neurological condition known as phantom limb syndrome means his brain continues to register sensation from the amputated arm. He said he once raised it instinctively to block a football and watched the ball pass straight through.
On social media, where he has more than 21,000 followers, he shares his training routines and answers questions about his recovery.
His motto, which he posts regularly, is simple: “The impossible is just a matter of opinion.”
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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