A scaffolder who was left disfigured after being turned into a ‘human fireball’ as he tried to steal scrap metal has urged youngsters to avoid a life of crime.
Darren Harris, 29, from Manchester, was severely electrocuted in November 2020 and was ‘dead for around two minutes’ after being hit with an 11,000 volt shock when he attempted to collect scrap from an abandoned steelworks in Wolverhampton.
He came across a switchboard and electric mains and, assuming they were off as the building was going to be demolished, he put his hand on a live copper bar and was instantly catapulted across the room by the voltage.
He lay unconscious for several minutes before regaining consciousness and managed to flag down an ambulance that just happened to be passing.
“My whole body was on fire and my face was hanging off like a flap and my windpipe was exposed,” Darren revealed.
After spending 27 days in a coma, he survived third-degree burns across 47% of his body, which left the bone exposed in both arms, while he has been left with no nose or ears and he also lost the mobility in both hands, but 18 months on after undergoing numerous operations, doctors have dubbed him a “medical miracle”.
He has battled depression and suicidal thoughts, but Darren is determined to turn his awful experience into something positive and wants to deliver a message to young people, telling them that crime does not pay however bleak life gets.
“I just want to tell people not to ever to consider it,” the scaffolder, who admitted breaking the law at times when he was younger, told Sky.
“I want to be a bit of an inspiration… to others out there who are in a crisis.”
He “left behind” his criminal activities when he got a proper job, but the Covid-19 pandemic saw him slip back into his old ways.
“I didn’t get any help with a self-employment grant or getting furloughed,” he said, “so I just basically, throughout the lockdown period, I was struggling with finances and everything was shot.
“I was desperate for cash and had no choice but to go back to that sort of ‘work’ to provide what went on the table – and unfortunately I made a very bad judgement.
“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy – I have been through the worst pain in my entire life, I can’t even describe it, and was left in a terrible state.
“Now I want to tell my story and inspire people and show them that they can get through the hardest thing in their lives and still come out the other side.”
He has launched a GoFundMe to pay for pioneering surgery to 3D print a live reconstruction of his ears using his stem cell.
“I have been given a second chance at life and I’m grateful to be here,” he added, while also mentioning he thinks he is the first person in the country to have taken part in clinical trials called BTM (biodegradable temporising matrix) – a synthetic device used to facilitate wound healing.
