‘Them things just kept coming’: Florida man survives bee attack, 30-foot fall while tree trimming

Jon Christian was approximately 30 feet off the ground when he hit a beehive during a post-hurricane tree-trimming job in Citrus County on Wednesday.

“They just came straight up at me and I couldn’t get them off me,” Christian remembered.

Christian, who is from Brevard County, says he accidentally hit the switch, so he was stuck in his bucket truck as the bees kept stinging him.

“I just started hollering, ‘Help,’ and somebody said, ‘Jump!’” Christian said. “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.”

A Florida man from Brevard County survived a swarm of bees and a 30-foot fall during a... — A Florida man from Brevard County survived a swarm of bees and a 30-foot fall during a tree-trimming job. (WESH, SHANAE CHRISTIAN, GRANT THOMAS, CNN)

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 at the hospital, it’s a miracle because the swelling went away,” the man said.

Christian says he’s known of his bee allergy since he was a teen. He was stung around 120 times; 50 of them in the head.

“According to the beehive guy, when he got here to remove them and stuff, he told me so many of these stories end up in tragedy,” Christian said.

Grant Thomas, from Beeman Stan Bee Removal in Polk County, says he believes they weren’t European honey bees that nearly took Christian’s life, but rather the killer kind.

“Their comb throughout the whole thing was extremely dark in color. There was no honey on it whatsoever,” Thomas said. “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.”

Christian says he’s grateful to be alive and thankful that his co-workers quickly removed 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,” Christian joked.

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

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