Keith Markham has a hole in his foot from being electrocuted, a very sore chest from the CPR that brought him back to life, and one wish: to get out of the hospital to take his 6-year-old son to see the new “Star Wars” movie.
“All I remember was a blue and orange flash,” Markham said from a wheelchair in St. Anthony Central Hospital on Thursday. “I can’t remember anything before the accident or after. I remember waking up with bandages on me.”
Markham said he has blisters on his hand and a nasty burn hole on the side of his left foot. Doctors have told him he may lose a small part of his foot.
He and co-worker Carlos Pulido were erecting scaffolding on a home in the 6400 block of West Arkansas Avenue in Lakewood on Tuesday morning when they touched a power line. Markham was knocked unconscious by 7,600 volts, according to Xcel Energy, while Pulido felt only tingling in his hands.
“I was lifting it up, hand over hand, when I looked over at Keith’s feet to make sure it wasn’t slipping,” said Pulido, 32. “I saw a big spark and a ball of fire at his feet. It scared me.”
Pulido said the two let go of the scaffolding and he jumped back, but Markham “was on the ground, stiff as a board.”
Pulido called 911. But two bystanders saved Markham’s life – Lanell Werner, a nurse, and Andy Schroder, a Denver firefighter. They were watching their children in a field-day race at nearby Lasley Elementary School.
Werner started CPR while Schroder cleared Markham’s throat, which his swollen tongue had blocked. Once an ambulance arrived, medics used a defibrillator to start his heart.
“They told me I had been dead about five minutes,” said Mark ham, 35, while his wife, Laura, held his arm. “I just want to thank the people who saved my life, who gave my three children their father back.”
The couple has two girls, ages 4 and 10, and a son, 6.
Markham said he doesn’t want to sleep, for fear he’ll never wake up.
“I told myself I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when I’m dead,” he said.
Pulido, who had never worked with Markham before, visited him in the hospital that night. Both men agreed they are going to take CPR lessons.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Pulido said. “If it hadn’t been for two people who knew CPR, it would have been a different story.”
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.