Plumbers save grandma after massive swarm of bees sting her hundreds of times

Two plumbers in California are being hailed as a real-life Mario and Luigi after saving a grandmother from a vicious swarm of bees that stung her hundreds of times.

Diosdado San Roque and his partner from Happy Plumbing had just finished a job in Santee on the morning of July 24 when they noticed people frantically waving them down. Outside the home, a woman was pouring rubbing alcohol on her head while another sprayed bug spray, but the real emergency was just beginning.

Moments earlier, a woman had been chased into her house by a swarm of bees. But in the front yard, 74-year-old Juana, who had been napping, was now completely engulfed by bees.

San Roque sprinted toward her, desperate to save the elderly granny from the swarm.

“That’s somebody’s grandma, somebody’s mother. I just wanted to do the right thing and step up,” he said. “She said in Spanish she felt like she was going to faint — and right then, I saw her body start to collapse.”

Heroic plumbers fight off bees attacking grandmother

San Roque caught her before she hit the ground and dragged her away while swatting bees from her body. His partner blasted the swarm with a fire extinguisher, but the bees kept coming.

With no other option, our heroes made a bold move, luring the bees into their van to draw them away from Juana, but took dozens of stings in the process.

Video from their vehicle shows the intense rescue. Minutes later, police and firefighters arrived, with a helicopter using its downdraft to scatter the swarm.

“She was covered,” the plumber said. “We couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.”

Juana suffered hundreds of stings and a serious reaction, but is now recovering thanks to the plumbers‘ fast action. Days later, San Roque is still nursing welts across his back and arms.

“They said we saved her life,” he recalled after a call from 911 dispatchers. “I’m just glad we were there.”

Bee experts say such attacks spike in the summer as hives grow more aggressive. Juana’s family praised the plumbers’ bravery on Facebook, for their “selfless” actions.