Richards Bay man survives vicious bee attack

NATIONAL NEWS - Like a scene from a horror movie, a normal outdoors working day turned into a painful nightmare for a Richards Bay man.

This as an angry swarm of bees – possibly Africanised Honeybees, also known as killer bees – made Nolan Govender (43) the target of their wrath after their hive was disturbed by the payloader driven by a colleague.

At the time of the incident, Nolan was busy assisting Tendele Mine in its efforts to help the Mkhwanazi clan improve access roads and pathways to the historic graveyard of the Mkhwanazi Amakhosi, part of a broader community initiative to preserve cultural heritage sites in the area.

Totally unprotected in the open field near Mtubatuba, and literally stung into action, Nolen raced towards his bakkie for cover, pulling his jacket over the head as the cloud of bees swarmed all over his body, viciously piercing his skin with their stings.

Alas, in doing so, his jacket carrying his car keys fell onto the ground, as he desperately defended himself.

“They were vicious, smacking hard against my head as they attacked; it was extremely painful – my head felt like it was on fire.

“Because I was protecting my face with my hands, my head, neck and arms became the target.

“I was praying out loud for Jesus to save me, and I rolled on the ground but this didn’t stop them.

“I remembered I had a 5-litre can of oil in the back of my bakkie, grabbed it and poured it over my head. This drowned lots of them but still they kept stinging me.”

Stung into action

With over 60 stings on his body, Nolen managed to jump into the cab of the payloader.

“It felt like forever, but the attack probably lasted 10 to 15 minutes. My manager was called and we rendezvoused on the main road where an ambulance was waiting to take me to hospital.”

Fortunately, Nolen is not allergic to bee stings or the attack would surely have been fatal, and all his vital signs were normal in the ambulance.

Meanwhile, his wife Bernice had been told of the incident and sped to hospital with their two children. At first I ignored the calls because I had been getting scam calls all day!”

Once they were certain there was no permanent harm done, we prayed together at his hospital bed knowing the Lord had delivered him from serious harm or worse, and she painstakingly pulled out all the stings.

“I blessed to still have my ‘honey’ around,” joked Bernice, while Nolan said he was ‘still buzzing’, although the itching continues!”

But of one thing they are certain: their faith stood them in good stead, and lay preacher Nolan has already shared his ‘hive of activity’ experience from the pulpit.

Nolen with his wife Bernice.