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Widow shares warning after new dad electrocuted in Ellensburg

A grieving widow has a warning about a popular woodworking technique after her husband was electrocuted less than a month after their baby was born.

The pain is still so raw for Dorian Githens.

Her husband of 2.5 years was electrocuted just before Christmas. 

"I felt angry that he died over something so stupid," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

35-year-old Collin Githens was making Christmas presents in his Ellensburg garage with a process called "fractal burning" or the "Lichtenberg technique" that uses live electricity to carve designs into wood.

Collin was an experienced electrician of 13 years and had used the technique before, but the margin for error is small when dealing with 2,000 volts of electricity.

"It makes no sense that something like that took him out of our lives," said Dorian.

YouTube videos abound showing how to employ fractal burning using components from a microwave oven.

But it has caused at least four deaths in America over the past two years alone, prompting a national woodworking organization to call for an all-out ban.

Adding to the heartbreak, Dorian and Collin had just welcomed their first baby Adelyn less than a month before he died. 

Dorian urges everyone, especially dads, to think twice before putting themselves in danger. 

"It's really not worth it, plain and simple," she says. "There are tons of other ways to make wood look cool, but it's not worth someone's life."

The community has shown an outpouring of support for Dorian and baby Adelyn as they forge a new future without Collin. 

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