A Hamilton man has taken Kiwi ingenuity to a whole new level after using his neighbour's 8000 volt electric fence to jump-start his heart.
But when Griffin got frustrated with the emergency department during an episode, he went home and ended up using his neighbour's fence to get a shock instead.
It gave him a "decent belt", he said, and his heart started beating regularly again.
He went home, took his medicine and, daunted by a trip to a hospital in Auckland, noticed his neighbour's fence.
Kicking off his boots, he put the back of his hand on the fence to give himself an electric shock.
Dr John Bonning, Waikato Hospital's clinical director, did not recommend people use an electric fence that way as it was "dangerous and ill-advised".
Dr Gerry Devlin, medical director at the Heart Foundation of NZ, said using an 8000 volt electric fence was "completely inappropriate" and would deliver a large bolt. »