Bees living in walls sting CA woman hundreds of times in ‘savage’ attack, family says
A woman who was stung hundreds of times by a massive colony of bees — that live inside the walls of her Southern California home — says she’s lucky she didn’t die in the attack.
“People said it was really lucky,” 74-year-old Linda Briggs told KTLA. “That some people have died from this and that I have a lot of toxin in me. If I were to get stung again, that could be fatal.”
A neighbor described seeing “a cloud of bees” swarming Briggs in the driveway of her Murrieta home, about 60 miles north of San Diego, on June 29, according to NBC Los Angeles.
“If you can imagine a cloud, visible cloud. We were guessing in the neighborhood of 10,000 bees,” neighbor Chuck Wing told the news station. “She had no ability to cope with the ferocity of the attack. It just got worse and worse and worse and when she got on the ground it became savage.”
Video of the attack shows Briggs swatting at the swarm with a small yellow towel. When that doesn’t work, she uses it to try to protect her face as she pulls bees from her hair.
Wing called 911 for help, the station reported.
Video posted to Murrieta firefighter’s social media pages shows firefighters dousing Briggs’ home with water and foam.
A firefighter was stung and went to the hospital, according to a post on Facebook and Instagram.
“Our engines are equipped with Bee kits to aid in being an ‘All Risk’ fire department and assist our community in any emergency,” the department said.
Officials commented on Instagram that Briggs was stung more than 400 times and said a professional bee keeper eventually took over.
It took doctors four hours to painstakingly extract “over a thousand stingers” from Briggs’ body and clothing, according to an online fundraiser her family started to professionally remove the bee hives and repair the damage to her home.
“Unfortunately, the bees that attacked Linda actually reside within the walls of her own house,” the GoFundMe says. “What started as an annoyance more than 6 years ago has now become a community health threat that can no longer be ignored.”
The bees were neutralized, but the family is worried they will find another access point that would allow the hive to recover, according to the GoFundMe.
Although she suffered stings all over her hands, neck, and even her face, Briggs told KTLA she was thankful her long pants and thick sweatshirt protected her body during the attack.
“I was very lucky that I didn’t die,” she told the station.
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