US man wakes from coma after being stung by bees 20,000 times
- Austin Bellamy was trimming the branches of a lemon tree when he accidentally disturbed a bee nest
- The 20-year-old, who had to be placed on a ventilator, also swallowed around 30 bees during the attack
A 20-year-old man in the US state of Ohio was stung around 20,000 times after accidentally disturbing a bee nest while trimming tree branches.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for Austin Bellamy’s medical expenses, he had climbed a lemon tree on Saturday and was trimming its branches when he cut into a nest of African killer bees.
Per the site, which was set up by Bellamy’s mother, Shawna Carter, Bellamy was stung over 20,000 times and had to be placed on a ventilator.
ABC affiliate WCPO-TV reported on Thursday that Bellamy had since woken from a medically-induced coma.
The Enquirer, a Cincinnati-based publication, reported that Bellamy’s grandparents, Phyllis and Dustin Edwards, were watching him work on the tree and saw him being attacked by bees.
“When he started cutting them, that’s when the bees came out, and he tried to anchor himself down, and he couldn’t,” Phyllis Edwards said.