A California woman cheated death earlier this week when she was stung over 200 times by a swarm of up to 80,000 bees, in an attack that was so intense that several firefighters who had tried to assist the woman ended up injured.
According to Newsweek , the incident took place on Monday morning when the Orange County Fire Authority responded to reports of a bee attack in the city of Lake Forest, California. The woman, who was identified by CBS San Francisco as Maria, with no last name specified, was said to be 52-years-old and working as a cleaning lady. She was reportedly found with “hundreds of bees” attached to various parts of her body.
“Basically, she was literally covered from head to toe,” OCFA Captain Tony Bommarito recalled, according to NBC Los Angeles .
“Her face was completely covered with bees.”
Due to the urgency of the situation and the lack of time to prepare, firefighters at the scene chose not to follow normal protocol and stepped in to assist the woman despite not being dressed in protective gear as required. The firefighters fought off the bees with a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, and while they were successful in doing so, four firefighters suffered injuries in the attack, including two who required hospital treatment. Per the OCFA, these two firefighters returned to work right after they were released from the hospital for their bee stings.
All in all, Maria was reportedly attacked by a swarm that consisted of about 30,000 to 80,000 bees and stung at least 200 times, as further stated by Newsweek . The attack supposedly happened after she parked her vehicle near a beehive that was hidden in bushes, then exited her car to get cleaning supplies for her work.
“She was covered from head to toe”: Woman injured during attack by swarm of 80,000 bees https://t.co/kPBF48rGhf pic.twitter.com/GrAppKxJIU
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 17, 2018
“She probably had a few hundred if not a thousand bees just embedded into her hair and crawling all over her face,” said OCFA firefighter Ryan Wilson in an interview with CBS San Francisco .
“She was kind of just struck over with fear, and I kept grabbing her, telling her, ‘Let’s go,’ and she had bees all over her arms. So we made the decision just to grab her, and take off and get out of the area, because we didn’t know where the bees were coming from.”
The woman was taken to Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, where she was admitted in critical condition. Despite being attacked by as many as 80,000 bees, as reports have suggested, she is expected to make a successful recovery from her injuries.
