This Ohio man woke up Wednesday night after spending four days in a medically-induced coma after being stung approximately 20,000 times and ingesting 30 African killer bees.
Austin Bellamy was harnessed up in a tree to cut branches when he hit a bee hive and the swarm of bees attacked him, stinging him all over his body, including his eyeballs and inside his ears.
Bellamy's mom, Shawna Carter, told WCPO that Austin was overtaken by the bees before he was able to lower himself down from the tree:
He was just covered in bees. Screaming and yelling, crying for help.
The Ripley Fire Department and Ripley Life Squad responded to the scene, where they were able to helicopter Bellamy to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was put into a medically induced coma.
Several family members who were watching from the ground were also stung and later taken to the hospital.
Carter told WCPO that the invasive killer bees turned him into a pincushion:
…left stingers like an inch long. When I rubbed his head on Friday before they airlifted him here, he felt like he was becoming a porcupine. That is how pokey they were.
He suffered kidney failure from all the toxins, but that wasn't the worst part:
"He ingested about 30 bees," she said. "They were actually sucking the bees out of his airways still Saturday night into Sunday morning."
Here's a picture of the poor guy after they stabilized him:
Austin Bellamy is still in the hospital, but thankfully, he is expected to make a full recovery.
You can donate to his medical expenses here.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
