Dad praises his quick-witted sons

Salvatore Rigisone-Pisone. Photo / Bruce Jenkins

Recovering from burns, an injured father has revealed how his boy suffered an electric shock fighting to save his dad from electrocution.

The Herald on Sunday revealed last week how Salvatore Rigione-Pisone's two young sons saved his life when he received an electric shock.

Rigione-Pisone, a 42-year-old Pak'nSave freezer worker from Napier, was discharged from hospital this week after receiving skin grafts to his face, neck, arms and hands. He spoke emotionally to the paper of how his sons, Rhys, 14, and Antonio, 10, came to his rescue.

Last weekend, he had turned on the power to the attic in order to trace a cable with an electronic sensor - but when he found the cable he touched it, "stupidly".

His nervous system shut down and he fell back with his neck against the cable, and began to black out.

When he didn't respond to calls, Rhys checked on him.

"He tried to shake me, not realising," Salvatore said.

"He thought I was having a heart attack. He was calling my name, and when he shook me the first time he got a shock.

"He scrambled down from the loft, got to the fuse box and turned it off."

While Rhys did first aid on his father, Antonio called 111.

"In between the shocks at the back of my hand and the shocks on my neck, I personally believe I had already passed over to the other side."

Salvatore's wife, Tanya, 38, has also been in hospital for the past two weeks after falling from a ladder while painting the ceiling.

"Me and my wife said to each other yesterday, we have always lived to make sure that the house we live in is the way we want it to be. That's why we liked doing DIY."

But he added ruefully: "I think we have got to that stage where DIY isn't now important - the rest of our lives is important."