Man from Brecon stung more than 150 times after wasps attack and follow him home

  • ITV Wales health reporter Katie Fenton has the story.

A man was attacked by a swarm of wasps who followed him into his home.

Andrew Powell, from Brecon, was stung more than 150 times by wasps after they invaded his home at the weekend.

He was outside in the garden to feed his chickens when a swarm of wasps stung him.

His bungalow backs on to farmers' land and he believes the wasps' nest was disturbed by a combine harvester.

Mr Powell ran into his home to jump in the shower after all of his stings, but hundreds of wasps followed him inside.

He said: "Suddenly there was a swarm of wasps and they came from nowhere and they came all around me.

"So, I turned and ran into the house up to the kitchen and into the bathroom.

"I put the shower on and by that time my wife said that I was absolutely covered in wasps.

"So, I put the shower on and I was trying to get the wasps off me and my wife was throwing jugs of water over them.

"They got into my shorts and my wife got stung three or four times and the neighbour came after hearing the commotion.

"She got stung on her face."

Andrew Powell was stung more than 150 times by wasps after they invaded his home. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

He phoned his friend Richard Hall who lives a mile away, who drove to collect him and take him to Brecon War Memorial Hospital's minor injuries unit (MIU).

By the time Richard got to Andrew's home, he was starting to lose consciousness.

Richard said he pre-alerted the MIU that he was bringing Andrew in his car, and said he also phoned 999 who told him to pull over and wait for an ambulance.

But Richard headed straight to the MIU and asked the ambulance to meet him there.

Richard Hall rushed his friend Andrew to a minor injuries unit after he was stung by a swarm of bees. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

By the time he got to the MIU, Andrew was in and out of consciousness.

The MIU nurses gave Andrew adrenaline and morphine.

The pair were told if this intervention was given even 10 minutes later, Andrew could have died.

  • Kate Wright, medical director for Powys Teaching Health Board, says the minor injuries unit in Brecon has faced staffing difficulties.

The minor injuries unit at Brecon War Memorial Hospital is currently open 24 hours a day, but the health board says not enough people are using it at night when it's already a struggle to staff the department.

So it wants to reduce those hours to 12 a day.

But in a rural area where alternatives can be far away, those plans are causing concern.

Kate Wright, medical director for Powys Teaching Health Board, said: "Our current service unfortunately has faced difficulty in staffing.

"We've had to close overnight on short notice. What that means is that our service hasn't been reliable."

But more than 1,300 people have signed a petition against the move and while the unit is not designed to deal with emergencies, Andrew's alternative was an A&E more than 30 miles away.

He added: "The doctor had said without the adrenaline and the morphine I might not have been here."

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