A North Texas woman is fighting for her life after she tried to save her husband from a swarm of bees.
Last Friday, Stanley Whitehead and his wife, Nancy Whitehead, were working to clean up junk behind the Possum Kingdom Chamber of Commerce near Possum Kingdom Lake when the man moved a piece of Styrofoam, disturbing a bee hive underneath.
"I grabbed a hold of the Styrofoam and all hell broke loose," Stanley Whitehead said.
Nancy Whitehead was sitting nearby in a truck, grabbed a pillow case and rushed to help, but the bees swarmed her, too.
"I reached on my head and pulled down a mask of bees and had double handfuls. I could not see because of all the bees that was on my face, and it was just all over," Stanley Whitehead said. "They pulled out over 300 stingers out of me and over 200 out of my wife."
Stanley Whitehead struggled to describe the intense pain of the bee attack.
"I don't know how to explain exactly what I was going through. All I know is very, very serious physical pain because it was so overwhelming, so many of them at one time. There is just no explaining it," he said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Emergency responders placed Stanley and Nancy Whitehead on the back of a vehicle and drove away in an effort to elude the bees.
Stanley Whitehead was then hospitalized for about 24 hours, but his wife remains in critical condition at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.
She suffers from diabetes along with other underlying health issues, which were complicated by the stings.
Palo Pinto Emergency Management spokesman Mark Engebekson said he believes the hive was home to killer bees, but to his knowledge the insects have not been formally tested.
"This was the worst I've ever been in them before," Stanley Whitehead said.
A fund has been set up to help the family.
If you want to contribute, donations are being accepted at First Financial, 1900 East Hubbard, Mineral Wells, Texas, under the name James S. Whitehead for the benefit of Nancy Whitehead.
