By Zach Schonfeld
Senior Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Bees can be terrifying—especially when they congregate in large groups, as anybody who has watched Nicolas Cage's performance in The Wicker Man can confirm.
An elderly man in Tarkington, Texas, had the misfortune of discovering this firsthand when he was attacked by a massive "black cloud of bees" that reportedly left him with more than a thousand bee stings.
Tom Mizell, 81, proprietor of a roadside vegetable stand, was attacked and momentarily blinded by a swarm of bees while mowing a field. The bees stung most parts of his body. Mizell didn't have a cellphone on him, so he responded by flailing toward a small lake and asking God to help him. He believes that his religious faith helped him to survive the ordeal.
Read More on U.S.
"I said, 'Lord, help me,'" Mizell told the Houston Chronicle. "When I fell down trying to get out of the bees, He said, 'Walk by faith,' so I did. My heart was pounding as I went toward that pond. Still fighting the bees, I jumped into the pond but I could still hear the bees under the water."
When Mizell got out of the water, the bees were still waiting for him. Eventually he spotted his wife and son and ran toward their vehicle right before collapsing. He was eventually transported to Cleveland Emergency Hospital, where doctors and nurses managed to treat the bee stings and save Mizell's life.
The Chronicle has a pretty harrowing account of the whole ordeal, including the medical response at the hospital:
When he arrived at the hospital, Tom's blood pressure had skyrocketed to an alarming number, said his daughter, Trisha Holt. Nurses began the painstaking task of removing the more than 1,000 stingers from Tom's body.
"We just prayed and prayed that he would be all right," his daughter said.
His wife is certain that God directed her path that day and led them to check on Tom an hour earlier than planned. Had they waited, the outcome would likely have been tragic.
There is also a video, in which Mizell revisits the site where he endured the bee attack.
Despite their small size, bees, hornets and wasps can be deadly and account for about a third of animal-related deaths in the United States. Here are some helpful tips for how to survive a bee attack.
The key points: Run away very fast, pull your shirt over your head, try to protect your face as much as possible and resist the temptation to swat at the bees. (That can only make it worse.)
...
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines