A Florida man is sharing his incredible story of survival after he was attacked and stung more than 100 times by a swarm of bees during a post-hurricane tree-trimming job and fell 30 feet off a bucket truck.
“At one point I just literally gave up cause I was in so much pain cause I couldn't take it anymore,” Jon Christian told NBC6 affiliate WESH.
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Christian told WESH that on Wednesday, he was about 30 feet higher than the roof next to him when he hit a beehive during a tree trimming job in Citrus County.
Christian said he accidentally hit the switch, and got stuck in his bucket truck, as the bees kept attacking him.
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"Somebody said jump, so I took off out the side of the machine,” he told WESH. “I fell 30 feet and I hit the roof and rolled off the roof to the ground and them things just kept coming at me.”
The rest of his crew from All Florida Land Services pulled him away from the swarm and rushed him to the hospital.
“I had no broken bones, no internal bleeding and whatever they treated me with at the hospital, it’s a miracle because the swelling went away,” Christian said.
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Since he was a teen, Christian has known of his bee allergy. He said he was stung about 120 times – 50 of them in the head.
Grant Thomas from BeeMan Stan Bee Removal in Polk County said he believes these weren’t European honey bees that nearly took Christian’s life, but rather a killer kind.
"Their comb throughout the whole thing was extremely dark in color,” Thomas said. “There was no honey on it whatsoever."
Christian said he was grateful to be alive and thankful that his co-workers removed him quickly from the life-threatening situation.
