Fears come a dime a dozen. For some folks it’s ghosts, and for others it’s the dark. But what about those real life things that make you cringe and shudder? The things that are just common enough to encounter in real life that threaten to slip into our nightmare reserves, making us fear things we didn’t even know were possible?
How about bees? Or things touching your eyeball? How about a full combination of the two? BUCKLE UP, FAM.
News broke this week about a 29-year-old Taiwanese woman who went to the hospital seeking medical attention for what she thought was a simple eye infection. What the doctors discovered was something worse. Much worse.
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The woman, identified by only her surname He, was examined, and the doctors found something incredible, and frankly, terrifying.
Four live bees were embedded in her eye.
BEES. FOUR OF THEM.
[adsanity id=”35667″ align=”aligncenter”/]The woman went to the Fooyin University Hospital in Taiwan with swollen eyes and complaints of severe pain. Dr. Hung Chi-Ting, the head of opthalmology at the hospital, described what they found upon examinations as:
..something that looked like insect legs, so I pulled them out under a microscope slowly, and one at a time without damaging their bodies.
Yep, the insect legs were seen wriggling out from her eye sockets. Oh. Hell. No.
The bees were identified as “sweat bees” (fancy science name: Halictdae), a type of non-aggressive insect that is common around graves and fallen trees. He had been visiting a relative’s grave and tidying the area and guessed that the irritation she felt in her eye was a result of getting some dirt in there. She described cleaning her eye out with water, yet her eye continued to sting and swell.
Although sweat bees don’t typically go after humans, Dr. Hung described them as attracted to the salt and moisture content in human perspiration. Say whaaat!?
[adsanity id=”35665″ align=”aligncenter”/]Essentially, the bees were craving something a little salty, so they burrowed into He’s eye and started feasting on her salty tears. I can’t even.
This incident, although high on the WTF/OMG scale, ended up being not too damaging for the woman affected. Luckily, He didn’t rub her eyes excessively despite the discomfort, which probably saved her from further, potential permanent damage.
As for the bees? Since this was a world first, they were saved for further study.
[adsanity id=”35666″ align=”aligncenter”/]Luckily for all of us, these bees can be found all over the world, including North America. Something to ponder over the next time you want to get sweaty while enjoying a leisurely hike.
If you need me, I’ll be on my couch. Forever.