This is called out in the article, before the attraction to the ground is mentioned:<p>&gt; Suppose, for example, that in their rush to escape my body, those 40 million Coulombs split in half and flowed to opposite extremities.  Say, each hand suddenly acquired a charge of 20 million Coulombs.  The force between those two hands (spread apart, about 6 feet) would be 10^{24} Newtons, which translates to about 10^{23} pounds.  Needless to say, my body would not retain its structural integrity.