Heroes talk about saving man from bee attack
Bees from the attack last week can still be seen swirling in and out of the side of a house in Creedmoor. Others bees that were involved came from a hive, inside a water meter box, near the intersection of Turnersville Road and Williams Road in Creedmoor.
Bee expert Walter Schumacher was hired to removed them. "These guys are already coming out to bump into us to tell us this is their territory their hive and to go away,” said Schumacher
The swarm apparently was stirred up by a lawn mower.
"And then that fueled the second bee hive to attack so he kind of got caught in a cross fire, a perfect little storm of bees,” said Schumacher
At the time, a crew with Travis County ESD 11 was already on an emergency run.
Lt Adan Torres says when dispatch diverted them - they knew it had to be bad.
"That’s not something normally that happens,” said Torres.
When they arrived - a man was in the middle of the road covered with bees. "As soon as we recognized that, it's you grab him, I'll grab the line, let’s get him out of here,” said ZTorres.
There was no time to fully gear up. Fireman Grier Hillis only got part of his mask on.
"I didn't see a lot of the bees; I was kind of focused on him,” said Hillis.
"But once we had moved him, you could see bees all on his face, you can see them all inside the collar of his shirt and on his arm,” said Torres.
The bees then swarmed Hillis. “As soon as I picked him up to move him they landed on my mask and I had zero visibility, completely covered,” said Hillis.
Lt Torres only had one option.
"I could see the swarm grow in size and then land on my firefighter, and I immediately turned the hose over to him in order to get the bees off of him so he could actually move the patient away,” said Torres.
"They didn't even bat an eye they just threw the doors open and jumped out and saved this guy,” said Battalion Chief Jason Pack.
The fast work, according to Pack, made it possible for the man to be saved. "In my 16 years of service, it’s probably one of the most selfless acts I've had the pleasure of witnessing,” said Pack.
With the bees dispersed paramedic were finally able to reach the man. They had been kept at bay by the swarm. They brought him into the back of the ambulance and he went into full cardiac arrest.
They were able to revive him and saved his life.
This is the time of year bees are extremely active.
Schumacher says there are a couple of things to remember if you ever have an encounter. "What a person should do is shield their eyes, because honey bees attack from the periphery they don’t attack here,” said Schumacher
Protecting your eyes, according to Schumacher, keeps you from going down.
And don’t swat - because that only agitates the bees
"Go to a car door and get in. if there are 10 bees or 20 bees that follow you they've either already stung you or they are only going to sting you one time, but the 100 to 2000 that are outside are not going to be able to get in,” said Schumacher
The remaining bees at the house will be removed on Thursday.