A heartbreaking photo has surfaced of a traditional father who lost both his arms and nearly his life in a horrific work accident.
New Zealander Jahden Nelson has a rocky road to recovery with a recent photo showing the father-of-three grinning in pain following his double arm amputation.
Mr Nelson received a massive electric shock when a metal pole he was carrying on a jetty in Auckland hit long-hanging power lines in April last year.
The 28-year-old suffered such severe burns to his arms that surgeons were forced to amputate both limbs with the strain, giving him a near-fatal heart attack.
A photo of New Zealand scaffolder Jahden Nelson (pictured), 28, shows the heartbreaking journey to recovery from tradition after having both arms amputated following an accident at work
He also had to learn to walk again after suffering nerve damage in his lower body from the electric shock.
Doctors told his mother he only had a 20 percent chance of survival.
However, after six months of intensive treatment at New Zealand’s National Burn Center at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital, he was transferred to Auckland City Hospital where he began to learn to walk again.
On Wednesday, New Zealand’s WorkSafe agency announced it had filed suit over the incident.
Under local law, the identity of the accused has been withheld, but they face a maximum fine of A$1.4 million if found guilty.
Mr Nelson (pictured with two of his children) lost both his arms as a result of a work accident in Auckland last April
Mr Nelson (seen holding his baby) also suffered a heart attack from the accident and doctors gave him only a 20 per cent chance of survival
Worksafe said the defendant had failed, as far as reasonably possible, to ensure the health and safety of workers at work. [for them]including Jahden Nelson’.
This “exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury from the interaction between workers and overhead power lines,” the agency said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Nelson said he was pleased that charges had been brought but could not comment further.
Mr Nelson was working for Supercity Scaffolding when the accident happened.
Speaking to New Zealand news outlet Stuff last November, Mr Nelson said he had no recollection of the week leading up to the incident.
He said he hopes to see more results from the intensive rehabilitation and physical therapy.
“My next goal is to regain control of my body over and over again. Everything feels very different after the accident,” he said.
“It’s like my brain is telling me I can do things, but my body won’t.”
His mother Toni Paikea wrote in a fundraising campaign that doctors had given Jahden only a one in five chance of living after the accident.
“He beat all odds thanks to the love and support we’ve had from everyone, and we’re all blessed to still have him here,” she said.
Ms. Paikea was asked to make the nightmarish decision to have her only son’s arms amputated.
Mr Nelson was working on scaffolding when a metal pole he was carrying hit low-hanging power lines, causing a massive electric shock
Mr. Nelson spent months in hospital learning to walk and regain control of his body movements
‘I don’t wish this on anyone. It’s the hardest thing a parent can go through,” she told the NZ Herald at the time.
“It’s a life and death situation. I hold my son’s heart in my hands.
“He is a young father of three beautiful children… a humble family man, devoted, all-round man, loved by many friends and family.”
Mr. Nelson did not learn of his fate until he awoke after surgery.
“I was a little shocked that I had lost my arms,” he told the Herald in July.
Nelson underwent his last surgery in August and was only recently fully released from the hospital.
“I still have a long way to go, but until then I am ready to take on the challenges ahead,” he wrote in a fundraiser in August.
“I have set up this page to continue the fundraising efforts already made, which I hope will contribute to a home for me and my family or the opportunity to invest in advanced prosthetic technology.”
Despite the grueling years of rehabilitation and recovery ahead, Mr. Nelson says he is grateful to be alive and with his children.