Back in August 2004, several Canadian newspapers published articles about the life-threatening tale of three friends out for a leisurely sail on Quebec’s Gatineau River. The mast of their boat touched a sagging hydro wire, sending 120,000 volts of electricity surging down to the deck. People on the shore heard a loud blast and witnessed the boat bursting into flames.
One of the three sailors was the boat’s owner, Muriel How, who was knocked unconscious. She remembers talking to her friends one moment and then waking up in an ambulance. Describing the horrific event with details she was given much later after coming out a coma, Muriel explained, “The electricity entered my body through my elbow and came out of my bum.” Her right arm had been touching the sailboat’s lifelines, which create fencing around the deck to prevent people from falling overboard. “Had my arm been higher, the electricity would have gone through my heart, and I would not have survived.”
Her friends Ann Brand and Cathy Melnychuck were electrocuted as well. With second-degree burns to over 65 percent of her body, Cathy died six weeks after the accident.
“I feel lucky to be alive,” Muriel said as she reflected on that fateful day. “It took me about two years to get back on my feet.” Being an AIM Group Builder with access to products such as AIM BarleyLife® and AIM GinkgoSense® helped her return to good health.
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