ST.Lightning Struck the Lineman Community Twice — And Most People Never Heard About the Second One
Just days after 24-year-old lineman Hunter Alexander was critically injured while restoring power after a brutal ice storm, it happened again.
Weather
Another bucket truck.
Another web of damaged lines.
Another lineman climbing into the sky so strangers could turn their lights back on.
His name is Denny McGuff.
And now, he’s fighting for his life.
Two Emergencies. One Storm.
Ice storms don’t just freeze roads — they cripple infrastructure. Heavy ice builds along power lines, snapping poles, tangling conductors, and leaving entire communities in darkness.
When that happens, linemen deploy.
They work in sub-freezing temperatures. On unstable ground. Around energized lines that can carry thousands of volts. Often in the dark. Often with exhausted crews rotating through 16-hour shifts.
Hunter Alexander was one of them.
So was Denny McGuff.
Like Hunter, Denny was responding to storm damage — climbing into dangerous conditions to restore electricity for families he would never meet.
Weather
And like Hunter, a massive electrical event changed everything in seconds.
The Second Shock
According to colleagues familiar with the situation, Denny was working from a bucket truck along a stretch of compromised lines when a high-voltage surge tore through his body.
Electrical injuries are uniquely devastating. Unlike surface trauma, the damage doesn’t always stop where it’s visible.
Electricity travels.
It enters at one point — often the hands — and exits at another, burning through muscle, nerve pathways, and blood vessels along the way.
Denny’s injuries progressed rapidly.
He was rushed to the hospital and placed in intensive care. Surgeons worked urgently to stabilize him. But the internal destruction was severe.
Part of his left arm has already been amputated.
And the fight is far from over.
Inside Two ICUs
Hundreds of miles apart, two hospitals are now scenes of parallel heartbreak.
Ventilators hum.
Wound vac systems cycle.
Surgeons scrub in.
Families whisper prayers between updates.
Hunter continues to face additional surgeries as doctors work to preserve viable tissue. Electrical trauma can cause progressive damage — meaning tissue that appears stable on day one may deteriorate days later.
Denny’s recovery has entered an even more critical phase. Amputation is often a last-resort measure to stop infection, prevent systemic collapse, or remove tissue beyond repair.
For both men, the next days will determine long-term outcomes.
The Brotherhood That Feels Every Fall
The lineman trade is more than a job — it’s a tight-knit brotherhood.
Crews travel state to state after disasters. They share trucks, meals, and long nights in freezing weather. They trust each other with their lives.
When one lineman is injured, the entire community feels it.
When two are critically hurt in the same storm cycle, it sends shockwaves nationwide.
Weather
Support pages have begun circulating. Prayer chains are active. Donations are being organized. Fellow linemen are posting helmet tributes and orange ribbons — symbols of solidarity in a trade that rarely seeks attention.
Because most of the time, no one notices linemen at all.
Until something goes wrong.
The Hidden Danger of High-Voltage Injuries
What many outside the trade don’t realize is that high-voltage electrical injuries are medically unpredictable.
Unlike a simple burn, electrical trauma can:
- Destroy muscle deep beneath intact skin
- Disrupt nerve signaling
- Damage blood vessels internally
- Trigger cardiac complications
- Cause compartment syndrome from swelling
Doctors often monitor patients for days before the full extent of damage becomes clear.
That’s why repeat surgeries are common. That’s why ICU stays are long. That’s why recovery can stretch months — or years.
And that’s why both Hunter and Denny remain in critical phases of care.
The Cost of Flipping a Switch
Every time power is restored after a storm, someone climbed to make that happen.
Weather
They maneuver heavy equipment on icy roads. They work near energized circuits that can arc without warning. They make split-second decisions in conditions most people would avoid entirely.
It’s a profession built on calculated risk.
But when storms are severe and infrastructure is unstable, the margin for error narrows dramatically.
Two families now know that reality intimately.
Two households are facing life-altering medical futures.
One storm connected them.
The Question Echoing Across Crews
Across utility yards and break rooms, one question keeps surfacing:
How many more will it take before people fully grasp the risks these workers carry every time they climb?
Lineman fatalities and catastrophic injuries often spike during major weather events. Fatigue, unpredictable line conditions, and rushed restoration timelines compound already dangerous tasks.
Crews accept that risk.
But they rarely broadcast it.
What Happens Next
Hunter faces more surgeries in the coming days as doctors attempt to stabilize and preserve function.
Denny’s condition remains critical as surgeons monitor for further complications and begin the long road of rehabilitation planning.
Both families are navigating medical decisions no one prepares for.
Both are surrounded by a trade that does not abandon its own.
A Storm That Won’t Be Forgotten
The ice will melt.
Weather
Power will return.
Headlines will move on.
But for two families — and a nationwide lineman community — this storm will never simply be weather.
It will be the moment everything changed.
And as crews prepare for the next callout, climbing once again into the sky, the risk remains real.
Because behind every restored light switch is a worker who stepped into danger so others could stay warm.
The full story — including how Denny’s injury unfolded and how the lineman community is rallying behind both families — continues below.
