A father of three from Maine rescued his son from a falling power line during a violent thunderstorm. Scott Towers was walking home from his brother's house near Augusta on May 5 when the weather suddenly turned severe.
Sudden Storm Strikes
'I've lived here my whole life, and I've never experienced anything like the weather that had come through here,' Towers told WMTW. He and his family live in Arkay Mobile Home Park in Wilton, just two houses from his brother's lot.
During their short walk home, strong winds caused poles holding live power lines to snap loudly above them. 'My wife had told our kids to run home because we really thought it was a tornado coming through. It was that extreme,' he said.
Heroic Rescue
Towers described the horrifying sound as 'like a bomb went off.' He noticed a sizzling cable tumbling straight toward his son and caught it with his bare hands without thinking. 'I shoved him forward, and when I shoved him forward, the lines dropped right in front of me,' he explained. 'The lines literally fell into my hands, and I just had to hold on to them because my son was right there.'
Electricity surged through his body. 'When I held on to them, it threw me backwards about four or five feet onto the ground, and I completely blacked out,' Towers added. He was left unresponsive, not moving or breathing.
Brother's Quick Action
His brother, Dustin, witnessed the aftermath and began chest compressions, eventually shaking him awake. 'I grabbed him by the head, and I shook him. It was the scariest thing I've ever been through,' Dustin told the outlet.
Towers was rushed to the hospital and treated for his injuries. He was released the next day with a heart monitor. According to Time and Date, wind speeds on Tuesday reached up to 15 miles per hour.
Father's Determination
Despite excruciating pain, Towers said he would catch the power line again without hesitation. 'You know, it's not necessarily that I went out of my way... I had to catch it, or it was going to land on my son, and there was no question about that.' The rest of the family escaped with only minor scrapes and bruises.
City electric crews are working to repair the collapsed power lines following the sudden storm. The Daily Mail contacted Central Maine Power and the Towers family for further comment.
