RIPLEY, Ohio — A Ripley man was taken to the emergency room Friday after he said a swarm of bees stung him 'thousands' of times.
Shawna Carter said her son 20-year-old Austin Bellamy was in a medically-induced coma over the weekend at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
According to Carter, Bellamy was harnessed up in a tree trimming branches when he unknowingly cut into a bee hive.
"He was just covered in bees," Carter. "Screaming and yelling, crying for help."
She said he tried to hoist himself down, but the bees took him over and he could no longer see. Carter said his grandmother and uncle were on the ground also being attacked by bees.
“(They) left stingers like an inch long,” she said. “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.”
The injuries were so bad, Carter said he endured kidney failure.
“He ingested about 30 bees,” she said. “They were actually sucking the bees out of his airways still Saturday night into Sunday morning.”
Carter credits a Ripley first responder with saving Bellamy’s life Friday.
“I don’t know how I’m going to ever thank everybody,” said Carter. “Craig is Austin’s angel, he saved his life and means a lot to us."
Carter said the Ripley Fire Department told her the bees were killer bees. A spokesperson from the Southwest Ohio Beekeepers Association said a bee sample would need to be analyzed to make identify the specific species that caused the injuries.
His family said Bellamy will make a full recovery but will have to stay at the hospital a little longer. Anyone who wants to donate to Austin's recovery fund can do that here.
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