SANTEE, Calif. (KGTV) - Two plumbers are being credited with saving a grandmother's life after she was attacked by a swarm of bees at her home in Santee.
Diosdado San Roque and his partner from Happy Plumbing became unexpected heroes when they spotted a family in distress and rushed to help.
"I've got these stings all over my body," San Roque said, showing the dozens of bee stings he received during the rescue.
Five days after the incident, San Roque is still feeling the effects of the attack. "A lot on my back," he said, pointing to numerous sting marks.
The plumbers had just finished a job in a Santee neighborhood on Thursday morning when they noticed two people frantically trying to wave down help.
"We saw two people spraying bug spray, one woman pouring rubbing alcohol on her head," San Roque said.
According to Kyle Ritchie, who lives in the home on Cecilwood Drive, his mother-in-law was chased into the house by bees while taking out the trash, with a clump of bees forming on a tree. When he came outside, he discovered his wife's grandmother, who had been napping in the yard, was covered with bees.
As Ritchie and his mother-in-law were trying to get help, Ritchie's grandmother-in-law Juana was in serious danger.
"That's somebody's grandma, somebody's mother. I just wanted to do the right thing and step up," San Roque said.
Juana was leaning against a car, completely mobbed by bees, when the plumbers arrived.
"I asked if she was okay. She said in Spanish, letting me know she feels like she's going to faint. Right then, I saw her whole body start to collapse," San Roque said.
Video shows San Roque catching Juana before her head hit the ground. He tried to drag her away from the bees while swatting them off her. He tried to shield her from the bees, as his partner assisted by spraying the insects with a fire extinguisher.
Still, the bees were relentless.
In a desperate move to save Juana, San Roque and his partner drew the bees away from her and into their van, where San Roque was stung dozens of times.
They circled back as deputies and fire crews arrived with a helicopter, which used its strong winds to clear out the bees.
Ritchie says Juana, who was stung hundreds of times, had a severe reaction but is recovering well days later, thanks to the intervention of two strangers.
"Incredible. Just wow," said Jeff Lutz, of the plumbers' heroic actions.
Lutz, owner of Bee Best Bee Removal, says attacks like these are not uncommon in summer when bee populations in hives increase.
"More established hives are more risky for people. They have something to defend," Lutz said.
It's a risk the two strangers ignored when they jumped in to help.
Soon after the incident, the plumbers got a call from 911 dispatch.
“They said that we saved her life," San Roque recalled. "It just uplifted me. I'm glad we were there at the right time."
In a Facebook post, Juana's loved ones paid tribute to the plumbers, calling their actions "selfless."
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