Florida man survives bee attack, falls from 30 feet while pruning trees

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) – A Florida man survived a swarm of bees that attacked him and a 30-foot fall while pruning trees.

Jon Christian was about 30 feet off the ground Wednesday when he crashed into a beehive while pruning trees after the hurricane in Citrus County.

“They just came right at me and I couldn’t get them off me,” Christian recalled.

Christian, who is from Brevard County, says he accidentally hit the switch, leaving him stuck in his box truck while the bees kept stinging him.

“I just started yelling, ‘Help,’ and someone said, ‘Jump!’” Christian said. “So I got out the side of the machine. I fell thirty feet, hit the roof and rolled from the roof to the ground, and these things just kept coming at me.”

He not only survived the vicious bee attack, but also 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 in the hospital, it’s a miracle because the swelling went away,” the man said.

Christian says he has known about his bee allergy since he was a teenager. He was stabbed about 120 times; 50 of them in the head.

“According to the hive man, when he came here to take them down and stuff, he told me that a lot of these stories end in tragedy,” Christian said.

Grant Thomas, of Beeman Stan Bee Removal in Polk County, said he believes it wasn’t European honey bees that nearly killed Christian, but rather the deadly kind.

“Their crest was extremely dark in color throughout the whole thing. There was no honey on it at all, Thomas said. “And you know, when you get attacked by bees, or rather, stung by bees, you usually have three or four stings. You don’t get hit hundreds of times, and they were just in his hair and all over him.

Christian says he is grateful to be alive and that his colleagues quickly removed him from the life-threatening situation.

“The doctor said I either had superhuman strength or I’m the luckiest person in the world, but either way, stop and play the lottery,” Christian joked.

Christian said he has already ordered bee suits in case his tree-trimming team encounters another angry swarm.

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