Officials with Connexus Energy say a journeyman  lineman remains in the intensive care/burn unit at Hennepin County Medical Center after being injured during storm clean-up in Becker Sunday.

 

Thirty-five-year-old Matt Stachowski was on the job after strong storms knocked out electricity in the area.  He has been with Connexus for 15 years.

 

Severe weather swept across central Minnesota Sunday morning, with strong winds and hail causing damage to several homes and power lines. The lineman was working on storm clean-up northwest of Becker when he suffered extensive injuries to his right hand and both legs after making electrical contact.

 

Stachowski is married with two children and they live in Monticello.

 

His wife (Melissa) says doctors are amazed he’s alive, though he is expected to remain hospitalized for several weeks. Stachowski has a CaringBridge page is his progress is monitored.

 

From his CaringBridge site is a posting that read: “Matt has been seen by many doctors and nurses. He has his first round of dead skin removal (scraping) and I (Melissa) was able to actually see the wounds without their bandages.” 

 

“He (doctor) defines he has a long recovery road ahead of him. Doctors say the outlook is a heck of a lot better then they expected. MRI came back good and so far no issues with any of the blood work. Matt is very tired as he didn't get much sleep last night so hopefully he gets some rest - which is imperative to his recovery.”