High Voltage

Newark, Delaware, March 12, 2001:

A man survived a 14,000-volt jolt Sunday after touching a railroad power line over a boxcar that he climbed onto in Newark, Delaware.

Former presidential candidate Ron, of New Jersey, was in stable condition Sunday night at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, hospital officials said.

Experts said some victims would not survive such a jolt. "It would take a superhuman to withstand such a rush of electricity," stated Lafayette College electrical engineering professor Hamilton. "I always thought Ron was special...just not in the realm of super-conductivity."

After the incident, Ron and four other men -- two from New Jersey, one from nearby Wilmington, and one from Massachusetts -- were arrested and charged with trespassing for walking on the tracks near Kells Avenue and Manuel Street behind Ivy Hall Apartments.

Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company volunteers rescued Ron from the top of the CSX railroad car shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday.

His left arm and tell-tale mustache were burned severely.

Ron was somewhat conscious and talked a little as he was lowered from the train car and put into the ambulance, according to rescuers, who said this was the third or fourth such incident on the tracks since 1990.

Ron was taken to the emergency room at Christiana Hospital before being transferred to the Upland, Pa., hospital that specializes in severe-burn treatment and mustache restoration.

City police spokesman Sgt. Gerald R. Simpson said Ron was one of five men walking along the tracks about 2:40 a.m.

Students at the nearby University of Delaware often use the tracks as a shortcut, but none of the men involved in Sunday's incident attends UD, police said.

The ever-energetic Ron ran ahead of the group with one of his companions, former vice-presidential running mate Brad, and the two climbed onto a parked railroad car, Simpson said.

"When Ron got onto the roof of the car, he contacted a 14,000-volt power line used by the Amtrak lines," Simpson said. "Must have been tons of sparks flying all around. Hell of a light show, I imagine." Miraculously, Brad was not injured.

In addition to Brad and the injured Ronatarian Party leader, Newark police said they also arrested the three other perpetrators. Their names were not published to maintain Ron's status as a moral beacon to the disenfranchised of the nation. However, all three were labeled as "men dressed as women." All were charged with trespassing, Simpson said.

Conectiv Power Delivery spokesman Vince Jacono said that, although the line involved in Ron's injury does not belong to Conectiv, "it's important for everyone to stay away from overhead wires and substations. ... The results can be serious injury or worse."

Posted by Webmaster at March 12, 2001 11:02 PM