A swarm of wasps unexpectedly attacked an unfortunate cyclist
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A man miraculously survived after being stung 240 times by a swarm of wasps while feeding his chickens.
A man from Wales was stung 240 times by a swarm of wasps
The 57-year-old returned from a bike ride on Sunday and went to feed his chickens when he was “swarmed at” by wasps, he told Sky News.
Andrew Powell, a festival organiser who lives near Brecon, Powys, said his local hospital saved his life after he was stung 240 times by a swarm of wasps, confessing he was in “agony” after the attack.
Andrew Powell was stung 240 times while feeding chickens after a bike ride
Powell told the Daily Express “It was like a scene from a movie,” explaining he was “standing at the garden gate when I saw them heading towards me. I said ‘Oh my God’ and ran.”
“By the time I got to my back gate, which is probably four seconds, I was covered,” he said, adding that he “ran up the steps into my bungalow, into the bathroom, put the shower on and the bathroom was full wasps.”
Gina, Mr Powell’s wife, came to the rescue “throwing buckets of water on them, trying to get them off”, telling her husband his “back was just a carpet of wasps.”
Mr Powell stated the MIU saved his life – “I wouldn’t be here”
Andrew Powell said his local minor injuries unit “100 per cent” saved his life, along with his friend who answered his call to take him there; “If there’s no MIU (minor injuries unit), I wouldn’t be here”.
Powell believes the wasps may have been agitated by a farmer combining fields in the area, which would explain the extreme nature of the attack causing him to go “in and out of consciousness”.
The wasp victim was first taken to the Brecon War Memorial Hospital and later transferred to the Prince Charles Hospital, where doctors, who initially believed he had 160 stings, continued to discover even more all over his body.
Andrew told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, “Every day I’m finding more and more stings. There are 50 on one side of my buttock that I didn’t realise were there because I was so focused on my chest and back,” stating he has “got 20 on the back of my head, 20 on my neck and my wife counted more than 80 on each arm.”
While Andrew Powell is now out of the hospital and recovering safely at home, he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that he hasn’t gone outside since his return from the hospital due to a pest control technician informing him there are still “thousands of wasps around” the area.
