Newspapers / Jones County Journal (Trenton, … / Aug. 1, 1968, edition 1 / Page 3
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J A three-maii crew from a na tional advertising company was erecting a billboard alongside U. S. Highway 1 near Apex: on * snowy February afternoon in 1987. - > < • ■ * Clifford TL Bernhardt Jr. of Faith, operating a truck-mount ed crane by remote control, was slowly swinging a post into posi tion when the ettdofthe crane boomtouched What appeared at a glance af ha ordinary electric line leading to a nearby house. But in a sudden flash, the in nocent - looking wire erupted, Shunting 13,000 volts of electric ity'onto the cram boom and •cross the remote control etble. v As the lethal toad'riatemed Into Bernhardt, he slumped to the ground, a huge fireball arc ing off. his right shoulder. « Teh feet away, «U four tires on the truck caught fire and the1 gram burned in th» spot where Bernhardt had-stood: • * Bernhardt’s breathing stopped and his heart fluttered Only, .because ids two. coip pardons :f— John .,Ervin and James Teague, also of Rowan Cfcmnty ^ dashed to his side to «td render emergency - Sid - is bee^ahveatoday' to teBthe story Of a mhhaflotw xecoseiy.; One oi the jjdys turned toe over. i'ftgs he was in. me breath^ /'!' was'/tip 'aii& wilMrfg-’ifitound/but r don't H^rentembers nothing from' tike tiffie thd boom touched the iHgh-voltage line Until he woke ‘tip tlnuan /ambulance en-route from Apex medical clinic, to N. C. Memorial1 Hospital at Chapel “We stopped to put snow chains on WB ambulance,” be re calls. “Then I went out again.” Heat biurns from the electrical charge cost Bernhardt his right arm and" right ear. Hjs left thumb, pressing the button on the remote-control device held in his right hand, was burned “black as charcoal” and later removed. Holes were blown in his right shoulder, right leg, back and feet where ttye electrical charge “sparked out” enroute to a ground. Two large black spots at the right ear: and right shoulder suggested that the current arced from these points directly to a Uefrby miefaT .pdit.^ , The /w.tteMt the bottom' of his feet' above each nail hole. Sixteen months and, a dozen .Surgical operations later, Bern hardt is back at work with 3-M Advertising Co., leasing proper ty for highway, signs! An artifidal ijghtannJs the only visible evidence of his near electrocution. His right ear, made ot vinyl material, is not recognizable as artificial. A small hairbierce covers a san on of his head left b9*e by a shin graft. Heat-induced contraction al so caused the right fist to clench tightly. ii No evidence on the skin’s sur but (doctors ^outd feefno pulse in Bernhardt’s right arm. The electricity vaporized the fluid in the left thumb. The only pain Bernhardt remembers was in this thumb. Current sparking out the right side of his head destroyed a piece <xt bone behind his ear. Although the ear looked normal in. the emergency.,room, intense heat had destroyed.; all the tis sue. “Arc marks” dohranifte right side of .the body pinpointed each exit used by the high-pressure electrical charge. Often when Ugh voltage is involved, heat created,, as the current burst throughihe^akin often burning a yicfim to death. Bernhardt’s insulated clothing whs'scorched buto net-set..afire. ^Swelling and extsnsiyeV^nfee tion occurred Uteei de stroyed tissue of-theright arm hhd'right, ear. • ttrc • gp To prevent the spread of the infection into undamaged tis stife, the arm was removed, final ly, at the shoulder. .The ear, its surrounding tissue and portions of.the skull bone also, had, to bn removed. . red Wood cells. This hemolysis from the electrical charge and his surgical needs required 20 pints of blood in the early stages of his treatment. Surgeons patched each area of “electrical blowout” with a series of skin grafts. About half of Bernhardt’s 10 surgical opera tions during the acute stage in volved grafting. After the electrically damaged tissue bad been removed and the infection was under control, Bernhardt was released from the hospital in mid-April. He returned the following month. “When I came back," he says, “they slid a .piece of my scalp back to cover the exposed bone in the back of ipy ear. “And to cover the bare spot in my scalp, they transplanted a piece of skin from, my hip.” The healed scalp is now cov ered by the artificial hairpiece. Last November, Bernhardt re turned again to N. C. Memorial Hospital for repairs to hik left hand. He spent two , weeks at UNC’s School of Dentistry and its ufdqUe Oral-Facfett'DisttidferS Clinic. To complete thq rqhabititetioPi he needed a new right ear. o/jnsleft*ear ahaUfeedTthis to' fihd a “donor” with a similar left ear. Next, a mold was made of the donor’s right ear. A replica of the matching right ear was fashioned from a vinyl material, fitted to Bernhardt’s head, modified to proper size, . ..i. ' . .1. MU-. U "" Your Medieine Gait Cost You Less 1 . •• N*' '* * & - ..Eave Vqut JPre»<^ptL<ii*^^iliea at SrO -'V-* iV -ft.li’...’ ! V.Avj MEDICAL CENTER PHARMACY MS N. QuMa DM Kinston, N. C. WE WELCOME CHARGE ACCOUNTS WE KEEP INCOME TAX AND INSURANCE RECORDS Walter P. Johnson. R. Ph. 7 FOR THAT PROFESSIONAL LOOK cse*«»#ST shell 3.'J ni Vinyl Latnx FLATWALL FINISH Now is thetime to decorate with Blue Ridge QUALITY paint at LOW COST. A wide selection of pastel colors' available; also matching Alkyd semigloss Enamel for wood* work and kitchens. Come in today BLIZZARD BUILDING SUPPLY INC. Kinston, N. C. shaded to match his skin and then made life-like with tree kies, blemishes and blood veins. Bernhardt fixes his proethetic ear to his head with adhesive, removing it — along with his right arm — each night before going to sleep. Taking a light-hearted back-' ward look at his near electrocu tion, Bernhardt says he “got lit up a bit” on that fateful Feb ruary afternoon. Ironically, he says he’s been afraid of electricity all his life. He’s now 34, married and the father of three children. Telephone Plant Workers to Begin Paying Union Dues Plant Department employees of Carolina Telephone Company on Friday, voted 649 to 585 ,in favor of collective' ’bargaining repres entation by the Communications Wqrkers of America, ^ With approximately 1,300 plant employees eligible to voter 1234, participated ip; the secret -ballpt-, ing. The election was conducted at seventeen points within the company area by representa tives of the National Labor Re lations Board. TAYLOR ON CARRIER teaman RolandW. 'Taylor, son of Mr. and Mrs. Horace W. Tay lor of Route 4, Kinston, while serving aboard the attack air craft carrier USS Hancock par ticapated in Operation Bearer Burden off the coast of Southern California. Ambulance Service •4 - -V.: DIAL ./'JA 7-1123 KINSTON. N. C • • X ■ 1KH.U DON'T SACRIFICE LIVES WITH WORN-SUCK TIRES ALL SIZES! COMPLETE SELECTION! C. A. BATTLE & SONS P. 0. BOX 246 — COMFORT, N. C. "A Complete Tire Recapping Center" ' Phone Richland* Ext. 324-4234 Kinston Swansboro 1406 Richland* Road Nwy. 24 Phone 523-5015 Phone 326-8929 Diadem "J"-* 26 Diamonds. Totaling , Vi Carat. I 14K Gold. I 17 Jewels. I $395,00 1 Bulova makes this her shining hour With a Diamond Watch from the Excellence Collection You pay her the loveliest compliment when you give her a watch that took nine months to create. Lady Mite “G" - 23 Jtwals. 2 Diamond,. $39.99 Lady Mite “J” - 23 Jawala. 6 Diamond,. Facated Crystal. 7 ttQfcOO Marqula* “8” - 14K Gold. 6 Diamond*. 17 d-Crya $195X0
Jones County Journal (Trenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 1, 1968, edition 1
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