By Sara Quam
The Fulda man who was injured in an electrical accident in Luverne said, "Things are up in the air," from his room at the Regions Burn Center, St. Paul.
Phillip Kramer, 21, lost the lower third of his left arm to what he said could have been as much as 14,000 volts of electricity.
He wouldn't comment on the specifics of the accident because it is still under investigation by the city of Luverne and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA's reports won't be available for another month.
The city of Luverne hasn't commented so far, either. However, a portion of its Tuesday meeting was closed for an executive session to discuss legal issues surrounding the incident.
Kramer said, "I didn't think it was that risky of a job, but you get used to doing it everyday."
Losing his left hand, his dominant one, is going to be hard for Kramer.
"I'm doing fine," he said. "I'll have to adapt and change, and I think I might be able to still work, but I'm not sure."
The pain is "mostly under control" now, he said. "When I was in Luverne and Sioux Falls, that's the most pain I've ever felt in my life."
Kramer's doctors estimate that he'll be in the Burn Center for about three more weeks.
"I have surgery this week for a skin graft for my leg. The electricity left there," he said.
Kramer said heÕs not suffering emotionally and looks forward to leaving the hospital.
He had been employed by Fulda Electric for two and one-half years when he was injured in Luverne. His company was doing work on the city of Luverne's west substation as part of an electrical upgrading project.
Parts of town experienced a power surge at the time of the accident. South Luverne was out of power for an hour and a half.