BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County man is recovering after he was stung by a swarm of bees and fell 30 feet to the ground during a tree-trimming job.
Jon Christian hit a beehive during a post-hurricane tree trimming job in Citrus County.
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“They just came straight up at me, and I couldn’t get them off me,” said Christian.
Christian said he accidentally hit the switch and was stuck in his bucket truck as the bees kept stinging him.
“I just started hollering help and somebody said jump, so I took off out the side of the machine 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,” said Christian.
Not only did Christian survive a vicious bee attack, but he also survived the fall.
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,” said Christian.
He said he has known of his bee allergy since he was a teenager. He suffered nearly 120 stings and 50 of them in the head.
“According to the beehive guy, when he got here to remove them and stuff, he says, he told me so many of these stories end up in tragedy,” said Christian.
Grant Thomas from Beeman Stan Bee Removal in Polk County said he believes the bees were not European honeybees. He believes they were killer bees.
“Their comb throughout the whole thing was extremely dark in color. There was no honey on it whatsoever. And you know, typically, whenever you get attacked by bees, or I should say, get stung by bees, you’ve got three or four stings. You don’t get hit hundreds of times. And they were just in his hair and just all over him,” said Thomas.
Christian said he is grateful to be alive and that his co-workers worked quickly to remove him from the life-threatening situation.
“The doctor said that I either had superhuman strength or I’m the luckiest person in the word, but whichever case it is stop and play the lottery,” said Christian.
Christian said he was ordered bee suits, just in case his tree trimming crew encounters another angry swarm.