A 76-year-old man is fighting for his life in a Durban hospital after being stung more than 1 000 times by bees on Wednesday, paramedics said.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said the man had left his house in KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Drummond area to go for a walk when he was attacked by the bees.
A paramedic, who is allergic to bees, was also severely stung as he rescued the man and dragged him into the ambulance.
Botha said it was not clear what had set off the bees, but it may have been the electric mower that was being operated by a gardener that ”put the bees into attack mode”.
Botha said the man was rushed to Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital where he is in a critical condition and on a ventilator.
The paramedic who rescued the man is also in hospital, but in a stable condition — as is the man’s wife.
Botha said domestic workers and other family members had also been stung by the bees, but were not hospitalised.
”They really risked their lives to retrieve the man. I think the couple got stung the most because they could not get away fast enough,” he said. — Sapa