Family planning fundraiser for man burned in accident
BELLVILLE — Keith Sansom was working as a contractor to remodel a Wendy's in Macedonia on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016.
Sansom, who's worked as a self-employed electrician for the last 20 years, gave his three employees the day off, as he was just planning on inspecting the site.
He was alone in one area of the building as he opened a panel box. As he did so, an arc flash knocked him to the ground, spraying burning pieces of metal at him.
An arc flash occurs when an electric current leaves its path and travels through the air from one conductor to another, or to the ground.
"When that arc flash happens, it basically melts all the metal around and shoots it," said Sansom's daughter, Michelle Applegate.
Sansom managed to crawl outside, putting his face and hands in a light dusting of snow to soothe his burning skin.
Workers in other parts of the building heard the explosion and called 911.
"One guy said he knew what it was as soon as he heard it, so they came running," Applegate said.
Sansom, 60, was transported to Akron Children's Hospital's Burn Center with second- and third-degree burns on his hands, neck, face and chest.
He tried to call his daughter to let him know what was happening and where he was going, but he accidentally FaceTimed her.
"I could see the degree of the injuries at that point and kind of lost it," said Applegate, who met her father at the hospital with her husband.
He was in the hospital for three days, wrapped in multiple layers of gauze. His eyes were nearly swollen shut. His lips were burned, so he struggled to open his mouth to eat or drink anything.
"He looked like a mummy," said Sansom's sister, Sherry Smith. "He just didn't have any strength."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the incident but could not determine a cause, Applegate said. The family suspects a stray bolt or screw laying on top of the panel fell down when Sansom opened the panel door, causing the arc flash.
Sansom, whom Applegate describes as "active," "on-the-go" and "driven," was miserable in the hospital. He missed his independence, and he wanted to be back home.
Sansom, a lifelong Richland County resident and 1974 Clear Fork graduate, typically works out every day. He struggled with the high-calorie, high-fat and high-protein diet his doctors ordered to help him regain his strength.
"It was absolutely horrible for him, even to just get him to sit down and take it easy for any amount of time when he was at the hospital," Applegate said.
He begged his doctors to let Applegate, who works in real estate but has her nursing license from previous jobs, take care of him at home.
After showing Applegate how to change her father's dressings, his medical team agreed, and he was released Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Sansom stayed with his daughter for about two weeks so she could take care of him, changing his dressings on a daily basis and helping him eat and drink for the first week.
Sansom luckily did not require a skin graft, and he is recovering well about three months after the accident. He's able to get back to work in a supervisory role, as his hands are still relatively weak.
"It's a miracle how good he looks now," Applegate said. "You can't really tell anything is wrong with his face, that it was ever even burnt at this point. His neck, he has some basically like zebra-striping on his neck. It's red and white stripes. and then his hands, they got the worst of it, so they're very discolored and scarred still."
He attends physical therapy three times a week at Atlas Therapy to strengthen his hands, and co-founder Tom Zellner donated the therapy at no cost.
But his medical bills are at least $20,000, and as a self-employed contractor, he did not have health insurance.
His family is hosting a benefit dinner and auction to offset the high medical costs.
"He's very prideful and doesn't want to ask for help," Applegate said. "If it was up to him, I'm sure he wouldn't have asked for help, but we kind of decided as a family that we would do what we could to help him."
For more information, visit the event's Facebook page, Spaghetti dinner and silent auction benefit for Keith Sansom.
ejmills@mansfieldnewsjournal.com
419-521-7205
Twitter: @EmilyMills818
If you go
Keith Sansom Benefit
The spaghetti dinner and silent auction benefit will take place Saturday at the Impact Worship Center, 160 Woodruff Rd., Mansfield, from 4 to 7 p.m.
The dinner includes spaghetti, garlic bread, a salad, a cookie and a drink.
Tickets are $10 per person, and kids 10 and under are free, although donations in place of a ticket cost are appreciated.