An Ohio man is expected to recover after being stung approximately 20,000 times by bees and ingesting about 30 of them while cutting tree branches last week, his family said.
The incident occurred when Austin Bellamy, 20, climbed a tree Friday morning to help a friend trim its branches before he accidentally cut into a nest full of African killer bees, his mother Shawna Carter wrote on a GoFundMe page established to help with his medical expenses.
Research from the United States Department of Agriculture shows that Africanized honey bees "are more defensive, stinging more with less provocation than other honey bees."
According to WCPO-TV, Carter said the Ripley Fire Department told her the bees were killer bees. Per the outlet, a Southwest Ohio Beekeepers Association spokesperson said a bee sample would need to be analyzed to identify the species.
She also expressed her gratitude to the firefighter who helped her son. "When I think of Craig, Craig is a lifesaver," she said. "He's Austin's angel."
According to WCPO-TV, Bellamy remains in the hospital. Carter told the outlet that Bellamy endured kidney failure. "He ingested about 30 bees," she said.