When I was about 12 I got an old TV in my room which I of course decided to take apart to figure out how it worked.

I was VERY smart and of course unplugged the TV before doing anything.

My flat head screwdriver brushed against the wrong terminal in the back, I was literally thrown across the room several feet, and my flat head screw driver was no longer usable as the tip had deformed and slightly melted.

I later found an electronics book that had a footnote mentioning grounding out the tube before going near it…

How does an electric shock throws someone across the room? What's the mechanism for this push?

I know a shock can paralyze (by contracting the muscles) and it can burn (by joule effect) but never seen one push

Yeah the tube is essentially a large capacitor :P

I also learned electronics by shocking myself often