KEY POINTS:
A man who got a 110,000 volt shock while working on powerlines at Putaruru yesterday afternoon has been transferred to the national burns unit at Middlemore Hospital.
The 55-year-old Rotorua man was rushed by paramedics to Putaruru before Westpac Trust Waikato Air Ambulance staff airlifted him to Waikato Hospital shortly after 2pm.
It is unclear how the man, who suffered burns to 30 per cent of his body, sustained his injuries.
Putaruru police thought they were attending a fatal accident.
"But obviously he's survived...he's a very lucky man," said a spokesman.
Waikato District Health Board spokeswoman, Mary Anne Gill, said the man was in the hospital's high-dependency unit in a serious condition yesterday.
- NZHERALD STAFF
