A man is fighting for his life after he was stung by bees more than 20,000 times - whilst swallowing over 30 of the insects.
Austin Bellamy, 20, from Ohio in the US, was helping his grandmother cut some bushes in her back garden on Friday August 26 when he unknowingly disturbed a bee hive.
Grandma Phyllis Edwards and his uncle were giving instructions to Austin as he trimmed the bushes - which had been surrounding her overgrown lemon tree.
However, he then accidentally tore into an angry bees nest which caused him to be stung over 20,000 times.
Thousands of the buzzing insects were suddenly unleashed upon Austin as they attacked his head, neck and shoulders leaving him in agony.
Austin's mum Shawna Carter told Fox19Now : “When he started cutting them, that’s when the bees came out, and he tried to anchor himself down, and he couldn’t.
“He was hollering, ‘Help! Help me! Help!’”
But as the bees swarmed Austin they were also attacking his mum and his uncle which meant they were unable to come to his rescue.
She said: “I was going to try and climb the ladder to get to Austin… I seen how high he was… but I couldn’t get to him because I was surrounded [by] bees."
Emergency services were called to the address as firefighters went to rescue Austin from the tree he had been cutting.
He was then airlifted to University of Cincinnati Medical Center - with his grandmother transferred to a local hospital for her injuries.
Austin was immediately placed into a medically-induced coma after receiving breathing assistance.
His mum admitted her son was stung over 20,000 times and painfully swallowed over 30 bees - as she tries to help cover his medical bills with a fundraiser she's set up.
The bees had to be suctioned out of Austin on Sunday morning with the ordeal leaving Shawna completely overwhelmed.
His mum passed out as soon as she heard what happened to her son, she admitted: "It was just too much for me to take.”
Austin was woken up from his coma on Wednesday and has remained in hospital since.
Doctors believe he will make a full recovery from the tragic accident.
