As a lineman with a local electric company, Dakota Gloria is used to rushing to the rescue of others. On top of regularly restoring power to Oklahomans, he has been to Florida and Michigan to help with hurricane and winter storm repairs. But on Nov. 16, 2022, he found himself in need of help.
“I went to work like any other day,” he remembers. “There’s an inherent danger in this line of work, that I think a lot of people take for granted. We knowingly put ourselves at risk to turn the lights back on, but you pray it never happens to you.”
Dakota came in contact with a live wire and was nearly electrocuted. “It seems odd to say, but I was fortunate that I was struck with a high voltage.” He explains, “14.4 kVA (volts) blew me off the wire. Had it been a lower voltage, I would have been stuck to the wire and most likely wouldn’t be here today.”
The accident happened near Kingfisher, Okla. so Dakota was airlifted to the Paul Silverstein Burn Center at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. “I knew it was bad when I got the call and they said to go to the city,” recalls Dakota’s wife, Kody. She too works in the electric service industry. “I was able to talk to the doctor on my way in and he indicated Dakota’s condition was touch and go.”
“Dakota presented to the INTEGRIS Health emergency room critically injured from an electrical conduction injury with massive left arm trauma and third-degree burns to his back and shoulders,” says William Nechtow, D.O., MS, a burn surgeon with INTEGRIS Health. “Recovery involved a combination of burn center ICU support, surgical management and ultimately intense therapy.”
William Doss, D.O., is an orthopedic surgeon with INTEGRIS Health Medical Group Orthopedics Central. “In Dakota’s case, we had to make the decision of choosing life over limb. We performed the amputation emergently, helping him stabilize from his complex injury.”
Aaron Morgan, M.D., a plastic surgeon with INTEGRIS Health, performed a nerve transfer on Dakota to alleviate phantom arm pain, which consists of ongoing painful sensations that seem to be coming from the part of the limb that is no longer there.
Dakota would spend an entire month in the burn unit and endure three skin grafts. “He doesn’t remember the pain,” says his wife. “But I do.” Dakota says that was the hardest part of the ordeal. “My wife and kids were my motivation. Seeing them hurting was more painful to me than any physical pain.”
Once his condition improved, Dakota received both physical and occupational therapy to help him learn to navigate life without his left limb.
The Future“I have some limitations,” he admits. “But we raise and breed show pigs so there’s no time to lay in bed and wallow in self-pity. I’m thankful to be alive so I don’t feel sorry for myself - and neither does my family.”
Dakota says such tough love has actually helped him come farther, faster. He is now able to tend to the livestock, hunt and fish without using his prosthetic limb. “I like to say the accident was the best worst thing that ever happened to me.” He continues, “While I miss my job and hope to get back there someday in some capacity, I have become a much more present husband and father. It truly has been a blessing to spend more time with Kody and my daughter, Jaylee, and Iceyn, my son.”
Dakota says they celebrate Father’s Day differently these days, with much more meaning and sincerity. He encourages us all to live with the same newfound gratitude that he now possesses.
