Man left purple uncooked after being stung 240 instances by wasp swarm ‘fortunate to be alive’
A man who was stung over 200 times by wasps before being rushed to hospital has expressed his gratitude for being alive.
Andrew Powell had just returned from a day out with his wife Gina when he was attacked by a swarm of wasps from a neighbouring farmer’s field in Brecon, Wales, on Sunday, August 18.
Mr Powell revealed that he was stung more than 240 times in less than a minute before he lost consciousness. “I’d just got back home and changed from my biking gear into a T-shirt and pair of trousers as normal,” he said.
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“I went outside to go and have a look over the fields which I regularly do. Suddenly I saw these wasps coming from what must have been a nest. I think the farmer, who had been combining, had unknowingly disturbed them.
(Image: Andrew Powell/Media Wales)
“They rushed towards me and I started running towards the house as fast as I could but within seconds they were all over me. I could feel them up my trousers. They were everywhere.
“I ran into the house but at that moment I forgot to close the door behind me and they came into the house. Of course I should have shut the door but I was rushing so much.”
He said he frantically tried to soften the blow with cold water. He said: “Gina was throwing buckets of cold water over me and then I jumped in the shower.
(Image: Andrew Powell/Media Wales)
“I could feel them stinging me throughout this. On the floor in the shower it was black with so many wasps. There must have been thousands. They were all over the window and the windowsill too. It was like being in the middle of a wasp nest.”
Mr Powell revealed he was stung 80 times on his arms, 25 times on one side, 15 times on his back, and 10 times on his forehead. A neighbour quickly came to his aid after the incident, driving him to the emergency unit in Brecon where he received adrenaline and morphine before being transferred to the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
The festival organiser expressed his gratitude towards the medical staff at the hospitals, stating that without the swift actions of his wife and friends, he could have lost his life. He is now recuperating at home after being discharged from the hospital.
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