A St George’s man is grateful to be alive after being shocked by a fallen Belco power line just hours after Hurricane Gonzalo ravaged the Island last month.

Charles Wade suffered a fourth degree burn on his right foot during the mishap that could have cost him his life.

Mr Wade’s harrowing ordeal began when he was struck by the power line as he rode his motorcycle along Cut Road in St George’s.

“There were no wires down at all when I left home,” said Mr Wade, who is a Corporation of Hamilton employee.

“I arrived at my [football] coach’s house, Mr Alan Caisey, and we were talking and then all of a sudden his lights went off, so I decided to go home to check my son and see what was happening at my house.

“On my way back down through Cut Road, I saw some kids on the side of the road and they told me, ‘Watch out!’ I looked at them not knowing what they were talking about and when I turned around the wire was right there.

“I thought they were trying to tell me to stop or something like that and when I turned around it was too late ... the wire was right there.”

Mr Wade lost consciousness momentarily and was left with a severe burn on the instep of his right foot. He is also experiencing numbness in his left hand.

“I remember when it hit the bike it knocked me off, but it touched the bottom of my foot and for a few seconds I was unconscious,” he said. “When I came to, the bike was coming towards me, so I had to put my left foot up to stop the bike.

“Then I noticed that my right foot was burning. That’s when I realised that the wire had touched me and put a hole in my instep. I had on a leather shoe and it burned through that.”

After a relative came to his aid, Mr Wade was treated for his burn at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and is on the road to recovery.

“I am still using this ointment to treat burns to try and get better,” said the St George’s All-Stars footballer, who is better known as “Nature Boy”.

He added: “I wasn’t in the hospital too long because I didn’t break any bones or anything like that, which was a good thing.”

The brush with death has given Mr Wade a new appreciation for life and reinforced his belief in a greater being.

“There is a God above because if it wasn’t, I do believe that I would have been dead,” he said. “People may say that it wasn’t my turn to die, but it’s not about that and I feel very grateful to still be alive.

“I have always been a great believer in God, even more so today because of my experience. There is a supreme being, I believe that.”

Susan McGrath-Smith, the Belco spokeswoman, was unaware of Mr Wade’s plight when contacted yesterday, but reiterated that every precaution should be taken when the Island is at risk from storms or hurricanes.

“The Emergency Measures Organisation [EMO] advise the community not to go out in the hours leading up to, during and after severe storms for safety and to allow emergency response organisations to do their work,” she said. “Belco supports the EMO message in our communications. We advise the community to assume that all downed lines are live, and to stay away from them, as well as to stay away from any debris that could be concealing downed lines. We advise the community to call 955 to report downed lines.”

Mr Wade does not blame anyone or anything for the mishap. “These things just happen,” he said. “I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can’t blame Belco for what happened to me.

“Maybe I should have been home at the time. But, us as people, we want to get out and help our friends. Nothing had happened to my house, so I went to my coach’s house.”

The ordeal has also taken a mental toll on Mr Wade. “I feel uncomfortable when I’m around wires these days,” he said. “I get flashbacks whenever I’m near them.”