A guitarist who was hospitalised by a terrifying electric shock as he was warming up for a gig has been labelled ‘a walking miracle’.

Colin Benmore, of Accrington band The Itch, fell to his knees and screamed ‘I’m dying, I’m dying’ after being shocked for nearly 20 seconds during a sound check.

Colin, 49, said only the quick-thinking actions of fellow band members Steve Horsfield and Russ Lowe, who turned off the sound equipment and guitar amp, stopping him from being electrocuted.

Colin, who was getting ready with bandmates to perform at a pub last weekend, said that the shock happened when he touched the bridge of his guitar and the mic at the same time.

He said: “It was a very frightening experience. I was just trying to adjust the mic and the next thing I knew I was on my knees and electricity was shooting through me.

“I was just screaming ‘I’m dying, I’m dying’ and shouting for someone to turn the guitar amp off. I had seconds to go.

“Everyone at the time thought I was having a massive heart attack; they didn’t realise what was going on.”

Colin, who works as a site supervisor at Accrington Academy, was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital by his brother and fellow band member Dave after suffering blisters to his hands and burns on his arms, as well as tightness in his chest.

He was given blood and heart tests and checks for lung or kidney damage.

Colin, who lives in Accrington with his partner, said the band, which has been playing for two decades, will check all their equipment in future.

He said: “We are still trying to work out what happened. We may have overloaded a socket and all that charge has to have somewhere to go, or it could be the plug socket wasn’t earthed properly.

 “We want to put a warning out to people to get their equipment tested on a regular basis.

“I’m lucky to be here. The doctor at the hospital on Saturday said I was a walking miracle.”

The incident took place at The Thornton Arms on Brownside Road in Burnley on Saturday, September 14.

Landlord Andy Jenkins said: “It’s lucky someone realised what was going on. It was a scary situation.

“We have all our equipment PAT tested annually and professionally inst-alled which we are required to do so by law but we are going to have everything re-checked to see if anything was wrong.”