DIXFIELD – Nick Jones doesn’t remember much about the car accident he was in Friday but figures somebody was looking out for him.

Jones, 23, of Carthage, accidentally touched a live electrical wire that was downed after his Jeep Cherokee took out a power pole during a Route 142 accident. Jones was trying to get out of his totaled vehicle when his back touched the live wire, Dixfield police Officer Jeffrey Howe said.

“I’ve been talking to some employees from (Central Maine Power), and I talked with a doctor and nobody can really figure out why he is alive,” Howe said Monday. The line that Jones touched would have been carrying enough amperage and voltage to kill a person, Howe said. “Generally you can expect to be killed if you have contact,” Howe said, urging motorists to stay in their vehicles if they know wires are down on or near their car after an accident.

“Even if they are not touching you, you may come in contact with something the wires are touching and you can be electrocuted,” Howe said. “I want to stress the importance of staying in your vehicle until somebody tells you it’s safe to get out. That’s the smartest and safest thing you can do.”

Jones may have been dazed from the collision and didn’t realize a line was down near him, Howe said. No charges were filed against Jones, and the accident was mostly a result of overcorrecting on a slippery road, Howe said. “It was slushy and greasy out there.”

Jones said he doesn’t recall.

“I don’t even remember getting out of the Jeep,” Jones said. “I remember I was headed to work and then all of a sudden I was laying on the ground and then in the back of an ambulance.”

Jones was taken to Rumford Hospital and then to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston Friday. He was discharged Saturday after being treated for burns on his back and observed for an irregular heartbeat, said friend and housemate Melody Hoover. But his heart rhythm straightened out and his only lasting injuries were the burns.

“Somebody had prayers for him that day,” Hoover said.

“I’ve got some spots on my back, but I’m doing OK,” Jones said.

His 1993 Jeep Cherokee was totaled but beyond some minor burns on his back and being sore from the crash, Jones is doing well and was out visiting his girlfriend on New Year’s Eve.

“I believe God was looking out for me,” Jones said Monday.


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