A Georgia man, who was nearly killed several weeks ago after being shocked by a power transformer while helping a friend cut down a tree, got the chance to thank the first responders who saved his life.

Mike Pilgrim called June 25 a day he “doesn’t really remember,” but he told Channel 2 Action News it’s also a day he’ll never forget.

Pilgrim was helping his friend remove the tree at a LaGrange home, but a steel cable he tossed over a branch came in contact with a power transformer and shocked him.

He nearly died, but an ambulance crew stationed about four minutes away got to him quickly and saved his life, he told the news station.

When they arrived, Pilgrim wasn’t breathing and he had no pulse. But with CPR and a defibrillator, paramedics were able to resuscitate the man.

“Just a buzzing noise of the transformer going off. Then seeing all the different color lights,” Pilgrim recalled. “... that’s the only thing I really remember.”

On Thursday, Pilgrim got the chance to tell those first responders how grateful he is, hugging the Troup County paramedics and police officers who gave him a second chance at life.

He suffered severe burns to his hand and lost a couple of toes in the incident, Channel 2 reported, but he said he’s grateful to be here.

“It seems strange that a person can get electrocuted and the answer to fixing it is more electrocution,” paramedic Tim Willey told the news station.

Paramedics said if it weren’t for the quick-thinking actions of a bystander who started CPR before they arrived, Pilgrim would have died.

In other news: 

Channel 2's Fred Blankenship reports.

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