Teen brothers stung by Africanised bees

Two teenaged brothers were on Wednesday afternoon attacked by Africanised bees at Sophia, after one of them threw a stone at a nest and unleashed a swarm upon themselves.

Shawn Gonzales 17 and John Gonsalves, 15, of Lot 255 D’Urban Street, were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment for the more than 50 stings that they each received on their faces and their heads.

Fifteen-year-old John Gonsalves’ face remained swollen a day after he and his brother were attacked by Africanised bees.
Fifteen-year-old John Gonsalves’ face remained swollen a day after he and his brother were attacked by Africanised bees.

Both teens were discharged the next day. The bee stings were not life threatening but left the boys complaining about headaches and pain in the areas where they were stung.

They had gone to Sophia to drop a younger brother and a younger sister to lessons. As they were in the area, they then decided to check on their family’s 499 Section ‘A’ Sophia house, which is being renovated.

“…We decide to go and check on them materials in Sophia wuh people does normally steal from time to time,” John told Stabroek News at their D’Urban Street home.

He suffered a total of 75 stings and his face remained swollen and he said he felt off-balance. Shawn, who received 58 stings, was recovering at a relative’s home in Kitty.

“After we been and we see the nest, Shawn pick up a brick and seh let we pelt it and see what they gon do. When he pelt the brick, we run out the house and a whole set ah dem start come out and start bite me,” John added.

With the bees attacking them, they jumped into a nearby trench to escape, he said. However, though they were under water, they still felt as if they were being stung.

John said that he slowly lost consciousness and woke up in the hospital with a headache along with cold sweats.

The boys’ step-father, Mark Persaud, said that at about 5:30 pm on Wednesday, his partner Paulette Simon-Gonsalves received a call from one of their neighbours at Sophia.

Persaud said after the call, Gonsalves rushed to Sophia, where she found her two sons laying unconscious in front of the yard, after neighbours retrieved them from a nearby trench.

He said that neighbours had tried to rescue the boys from the attacking bees but they too were stung a number of times. He added that he later learned from them that John was first attacked by the bees, then Shawn, who tried fending off the swarm.

The nest has been on the property for about five years, during which time there have been many unsuccessful attempts were made to have them exterminated.

Persaud explained that the bees started nesting on the property after the tree where they had previously nested, located at the back of the yard, was chopped down due to work which had to be done.

He said that he and Simon-Gonsalves sought help from different ministries but they have gotten no assistance. When they tried to hire exterminators, the quotations ranging from $80,000 to $150,000 were too high.