An elderly Oklahoma man was attacked by over 200 killer bees and left writhing in pain for three hours after he fell and broke his hip trying to run away.
Carlos Amos, 81, was rescued by a hero neighbor who rushed in to fight off the swarm of Africanized bees and he is now recovering in hospital.
He was mowing the lawn at his home in Maysville last Friday when the vicious attack began as he tried to make his escape, Amos fell and broke his right hip.
Amos was being stung all over his body for over three hours before a group of men came to his rescue and one man took it upon himself to fight the bees off and called 911.
The doctor who treated him at Norman Regional Hospital said she has never treated a patient with this many extreme stings and that it can be life-threatening as the swelling can block the airways.
An elderly Oklahoma man was attacked by over 200 killer bees for three hours after he fell and broke his hip trying to run away
Carlos Amos, 81, was rescued by a hero neighbor who rushed in to fight off the swarm of Africanized bees and he is now recovering in hospital
The doctor who treated him at Norman Regional Hospital said she has never treated a patient with this many extreme stings and that it can be life-threatening
He was mowing the lawn at his home in Maysville last Friday when the swarm of bees began attacking him and he broke his right hip as he tripped and fell while trying to get away
Amos was stung in his ears, up his nose, on his lips, and even in one eye during the attack and the hospital removed over 200 stingers from his body.
‘I took a tissue out, stuck it in this ear, and more of them got in this ear, so I got those out then when I put tissues in there, and then they were in my nose,’ he told local television station KOCO 5 News.
‘I was there about three hours, but a fella from Burford Company showed up, and the first thing I did was I asked him what’s your name, and he said, “Oh my gosh, they’re stinging me now.”‘
The elderly man is fortunate his airways did not start to close because of the swelling from the attack.
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Savannah Phillips, a resident physician at Norman Regional emergency room, said: ‘And that’s the concern. You can have so much swelling that your airway starts to close that you’re not able to breathe on your own.
‘We look for things like if his voice were to change if he wasn’t able to tolerate swallowing water.’
Amos had hip surgery the day after the attack and he has now been moved to a different facility for rehab.
His family won’t be able to return home until the bees nest near their chimney has been removed.
Amos was stung in his ears, up his nose, on his lips, and even in his eye during the incident and the hospital removed over 200 stingers from his body
Amos had hip surgery the day after the attack and he has now been moved to a different facility for rehab
The elderly man is fortunate his airways did not start to close because of the swelling from the attack
His family won’t be able to return home until the bees nest near their chimney has been removed
And Amos’ daughter Heather Garvey has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her father’s medical bills, therapy and help to remove the nest.
She wrote: ‘He was home alone with no one there to help. A good samaritan found my father and called 911.
‘After all this, he is in good spirits but it will be a long road to recovery. He will require therapy to get back on his feet.
‘The bee hive will have to be removed before he can even go home.’
Almost $5,000 has been raised for Amos and his family so far in the past three days.
