West Island man undaunted by recovery after electrocution, amputation

Kevin Bolusi doesn't remember much from the night 25,000volts of electricity shot through his body, but he does rememberthe pain.

On August 12, 2015, around 9 p.m.,the 18-year-old and his friends were out exploring the West Island.Ahead of him, he spotted an AMT bridge the one connectingPierrefondsand Laval.

He ran towards the bridge and started climbing, managingto hangfrom its top rungs for a couple of seconds.Then everything cut to black.

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25,000 volts of electricity

Bolusihas since learned hedropped about 30 feet, falling squarely between the electrified railway tracks. His friends told him they sawa flash of light.

He has memories of themdousing the flames coming from his body withwater, reassuring him that he would beall right. At the time, Bolusi said, it felt like a dream.

One of his friends called for help and Bolusi was rushed to hospital where he spent the next six weeks in a medically-induced coma. He had burns to75 per cent of his body.

When he woke up, he remembers being told his left leg had been amputated. It felt like a phantom limb, and would continue to haunt him for about a month.

But reflecting on that period now, Bolusi doesn't recallbeing upset by the news.During his four to five months in hospital, he says it was hard to distinguish between dreams, real life and hallucinations.

After months in rehab, Bolusi returned home and acclimatized to life with a prosthetic leg.

Walking on snow and ice can still be a challenge, but his leg allows him to walk easily and he's able to bike with the leg he has.

"Of course, some little things I can't do but I'm going to try to find ways to work around it," Bolusi told CBC's Daybreakearlier this week.

Before the accident, Bolusi played rugby and he hopesto get a specialprosthetic limbthat would allow him to run.

The family put in an insurance request to buy one last yearbut was declined. Without insurance, the limb would cost more than $13,000 more than the family can afford.

Wake up call

Bolusi credits the accident with encouraging him tofocus on his studies, which he hadn't taken seriously beforehand.

Now that he's finishing at John Abbott College, he's boosted his marks and hopes to get into Concordia's Aerospace Engineering program.

"If I didn't get into this accident and getting that mentality of focusing on things ... I feel like it kind of helped in that sense," he said.

Still, financing Bolusi's school will be a challengefor the family: he looked into bursaries without success. And while he workedpart-time with a moving company before the accident, he's now having trouble finding work.

He said he'd like to be saving for school, but that it's hard to do when he doesn't have an income.

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