Meet Winston Kemp, Lightning Strike Survivor and Lichtenberg Figure Owner
We’ve all heard stories about people getting struck by lightning — usually as some sort of cautionary tale, but how many of us have ever seen the effects of lightning on a human? Winston Kemp, a 24 year old electrician, has had first-hand experience, and now he also has a unique and possibly permanent bit of body art to go along with it.
I have a Lichtenberg figure, which did not require me getting personally zapped.
Elecrical burns tend to be internal, requiring surgical excavation or the dead tissue spreads. Wound swelling on the ~third day can clamp off blood vessels, causing distal gangrene. Bacterial infection is the great bugaboo of burn wards. Ballsy Pseudomonas that slips past the Silvadene cream can cause near 100% mortality.
Avoid hospitals when the new interns arrive. Avoid burn wards in December when heater and tree fires fill the wards beyond nursing capacity. If your kid plays with matches, stand him outside the Hydrotherapy room in the morning.
Be proud that America denies potent analgesics to burn and cancer patients while Liberally basting drug addicts and pill poppers lest they suffer discomfort.