Man stung by hundreds of wasps afraid to ride motorbike

A man who was stung hundreds of times by a swarm of wasps said it left him afraid to ride his motorbike.

Andrew Powell, 57, was stung more than 250 times after the insects were disturbed and invaded his home in August last year.

The festival organiser from Brecon said he was swarmed by thousands of wasps from a neighbouring farm, having just taken off his motorbike leathers.

“I never rode a bike from August until about a week ago,” he said.

“I stumbled about the front of the house and into the shower, but they followed me in, and stung me through my clothes in the shower,” Mr Powell previously said.

“The bathroom was full of them.”

Mr Powell said he was stung 15 times to the back of his head, but managed to avoid getting stung in his face.

“I was running fast,” he said.

He said his friend Richard, who lives nearby, drove him straight to the minor injuries unit at Brecon War Memorial Hospital.

“I was dropping in and out of consciousness,” he said, adding: “All I could see was a white light and I thought ‘here we go’.”

He said nurses were “amazing” and administered adrenaline, morphine and co-codamol for the pain.

“If they hadn’t, then I’d be dead,” he said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Andrew, who helps organise the Brecon Beacons Food Festival, said he regularly rode motorbikes and performed at shows promoting them until the wasp attack.

He said: “I didn’t want to go to the garage, I didn’t want to go outside where the bikes are.

“I’ve organised a big show in Brecon, a big motorcycle show. Everyone is asking ‘when are you going to get back on the bike’.

“So after the show I took the plunge and got the bike out of the garage but that was the first time.”

Andrew says he now hates wasps and if he hears a buzzing sound in his house, he can “recall the hundreds and hundreds of wasps” on the windowsill.

“In December, there was one in the living room walking across the carpet. I got piece of paper and put it in the glass and put it at the side. I’m not sure I really wanted to do that but I did,” he said.

Andrew said his wife loves the garden as its full of pear and apples trees and “flowers galore” so he often sees the insects.

“I’m trying to get over it but if they are in the car or if they are in the house it does does give you a bit of remembrance,” he said.

Since his experience, Andrew said “life is precious” and now wants to make a difference through volunteer work.