Off Peak

Teen's life saved by utility line. Can industry say the same?

We can only hope it's a metaphor for the electricity industry.

In January, Joe Thompson III, 18, of Blue Springs, Kansas, was cruising along in his Jeep Wrangler sans seatbelt.

Suddenly, a car turned in front of Thompson. His Jeep clipped the other car and rolled, ultimately throwing him 25 feet or so in the air.

Meanwhile Thompson reached the top of his 25-foot arc, and started to fall back to earth. But as he fell, the teen's legs got caught in some utility wires, and slowed him down enough so he could wrap his arms around some more wires. Even luckier, all the wires were either insulated, ground wires, or telecommunications wires.

For the next 20 minutes, Thompson hung onto the lines for dear life. While he waited, Thompson kept saying a prayer, "Lord, give me the strength to hold on." Maybe there was divine intervention: A Bible that had been in Thompson's Jeep landed right beneath him.

Once the power lines above Thompson were turned off, fire and rescue crew got him down and sent him via helicopter to a local hospital, where he was treated for bruising and abrasions, then released.

The prognosis for the industry?