Ever had a bee sting? I have.
It’s usually not that big a deal, a little sting, a little swelling, unless it’s one of those horror stories about some guy on a ladder who disturbs a hive and gets stung 38,534 times, which is a lot, and makes it really hard to stay on the ladder.
But for people who are severely allergic to bees, even one sting is a definite big deal, as in a life or death.
Ask Cheryl Laidlaw of Newport Beach. She can tell you exactly how it works. So can her son, Andrew, who is 10 years old, and their dog, Beulah, who declined to give her age.
All three were enjoying a stroll on the beach last Thursday when Cheryl stepped on a bee, which is not good on so many levels.
First, bees don’t like to be stepped on and they do their best to sting whatever is stepping on them, which in this case, was Cheryl’s foot.
Two, Cheryl is highly allergic to bee stings, which means that even a single sting can shut down her air passages, set her heart racing then stop it, which is never good. It’s called anaphylactic shock.
Cheryl knew exactly what was happening, and fortunately for her, Andrew knew what to do.
He sprinted back to their house to retrieve his mom’s “EpiPen” — an emergency syringe of epinephrine, which counteracts the bee sting by relaxing the muscles in the airways, which are very useful for people who breathe.
As Andrew was racing back to his mom, EpiPen at the ready, a Newport Beach lifeguard truck had picked up Cheryl and waved Andrew down. Cheryl injected herself and the epinephrine did its work, just as advertised.
Everyone was greatly relieved, including Beulah, who said, “Who-ee, y’all had me goin’ for a minute there.”
I didn’t see “Akeelah and the Bee,” but I’ll bet the story of “Andrew and the Bee” is every bit as good if not better. Note to Mayor Selich: Draft proclamation for Andrew Laidlaw, Boy Hero, at earliest convenience; throw something in about Beulah if possible.
But here’s an interesting twist about Cheryl Laidlaw’s not-so-excellent adventure: However high the odds of stepping on a bee at the beach, they are even higher than you might think.
Why? Because the world’s bees are disappearing, and doing so at an alarming rate. Like every other problem these days, it’s been given a name — “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD.
