The bike ride turned into a nightmare for Jacky Belot. While mountain biking on Sunday with a group of cyclists in the town of Briennon, near Roanne (Loire) he was attacked, along with two other men, by a swarm of hornets.
“It hit the helmet and the back, luckily I had a backpack that protected me. In total, I had about thirty stings: ten on the head and twenty on the back, ”he tells BFMTV. Admitted to intensive care, he was able to come out the next day.
The swarm of hornets was in a dead tree, located two meters from the path taken by the group of cyclists. “I fell off my bike, and out of survival instinct, I quickly got back on my bike to try to get out of the woods (…). I collapsed on the way, there I really don’t know anymore, ”says Jacky Belot.
A friend of his, behind him, is stung 56 times. He is now out of danger. “We thought it was the end,” recalls Jacky Belot. The operation mobilized three ambulances, a crew of firefighters, a doctor and a Samu team.