A Pennsylvania electrician is opening up about the terrifying moment a routine job turned into a near-death experience after an electrical arc flash badly burned nearly 20% of his body.
Derek Mast, 35, has worked as an electrician for 18 years, primarily in the solar industry. For the past eight years, he has worked as a maintenance and commissioning technician.
In June 2026, Mast was troubleshooting large electrical switchgear when a shorted piece of equipment triggered a powerful arc flash.
The certified master electrician explained that an arc flash is similar to the tiny spark people sometimes feel when touching a doorknob after building up static electricity — except on a much more dangerous scale.
“The air gets super heated, there’s plasma, temperatures can be up to the surface of the sun,” Mast said.
Although the blast lasted only a fraction of a second, he said it felt much longer.
“It was very hot, it was very loud,” Mast recalled. “I could hear the buzzing of the 60 Hz AC frequency.”
Mast said he immediately understood what was happening and began thinking about whether he was about to die.
“Thoughts of death, thoughts of what my family is going to do, thinking about the people that I was not sure if I was just about to leave behind and whether this was the last thing I would see,” he said.
Mast survived, but the arc flash left him with severe burns covering 19% of his body, including his face, hands and arms.
Once he was able to move, he tried desperately to call 911.
But there was a problem.
His fingertips had been so badly burned that his phone would not recognize his touch.
“I could see my arms had flaking, burnt skin,” he said. “My fingertips wouldn’t work on a touchscreen properly.”
He said it felt like it took five minutes to make the call, but when he later checked the time, it had actually taken about one minute.
Fortunately, the owner of the electrical system was nearby and also called 911.
Mast was rushed to a local hospital before being airlifted to a specialized burn unit.
Doctors placed him on a ventilator while they debrided his wounds, removing damaged and dead skin.
He later underwent a skin graft on his left hand covering his thumb, index finger, middle finger and roughly two-thirds of the back of his hand.
Mast spent about 48 hours on a ventilator before waking up and beginning the long recovery process.
From that point, his days were filled with dressing changes, rest and monitoring as doctors waited for the wounds to close.
His wife became a major part of his recovery, helping clean his injuries and change his dressings.
About a week and a half after the accident, the wounds finally closed.
But that was only the beginning.
Mast said regaining full use of his hands has been a slow and frustrating process.
He can now grab objects with both hands, but some everyday tasks remain difficult.
His left hand still requires extensive stretching, particularly around the thumb, and he cannot easily grasp something as thick as a Mason jar.
His right hand can close completely, but only after significant stretching and moisturizing.
Mast currently performs occupational therapy exercises about three times a day.
He has not yet returned to work.
“The first four weeks of recovery, there is just so much insane progress that you make because the wounds heal pretty fast,” he said.
After the wounds close, however, he said recovery becomes much slower and focuses on stretching scar tissue, wearing compression sleeves and rebuilding strength.
Mast has been trying to do chores around the house, but he said his energy level still is not what it was before the accident.
He expects he may be cleared for modified work within the next month or two.
Even then, he may have to wait several more months before returning to hands-on electrical work.
Mast said he knows of another worker with similar injuries who needed eight months before returning to the job.
“Everybody’s a little bit different,” he said.
One of the most emotionally difficult parts of the accident has been losing his fingerprints.
Mast recently went viral on TikTok after discussing how unexpected and upsetting that loss has been.
“The one thing I didn’t think would be that emotional … is that I don’t have fingerprints anymore,” he said.
“I don’t know why that bothers me as much as it does.”
Mast said some fingerprints on his right hand may eventually return, but he fears the burns were severe enough that scar tissue may prevent them from ever fully coming back.
There is no simple surgery that can restore them.
Mast has been sharing his recovery on TikTok and YouTube, saying the process has helped him emotionally deal with what happened.
He said talking openly about the trauma has been “very therapeutic.”
When flashbacks happen, Mast said he tries not to push them away.
Instead, he allows himself to experience the emotions in the moment.
Connecting with other burn and arc-flash survivors online has also helped.
“It’s genuinely encouraging,” Mast said.
He said arc-flash injuries are relatively rare, which can make survivors feel isolated.
By sharing photos, stories and recovery experiences, Mast said people who have lived through similar accidents can reassure one another that what they are feeling is normal.
“We all know that we’re not crazy,” he said, “and we just got to get through it together.”
Real Deal Team