Dad dies after being stung by swarm of wasps while cutting hedge in his garden

A father of three has tragically died after being stung by a swarm of wasps while he was trimming a hedge in his back garden.

Michael Sheehan, who was in his 50s, accidentally disturbed a nest whilst at his home in Cork, Ireland, and suffered multiple stings. He managed to drag himself back inside where he collapsed before emergency services were called. Heartbreakingly, Michael was pronounced dead by paramedics before he could be transferred to .

Paramedics had attempted to treat him at the scene following the tragedy earlier this week, but arrived to find that he was no longer conscious. A full postmortem is due to be carried out at Cork University Hospital, and an inquest will be held in due course.

Michael is believed to have suffered an anaphylactic shock brought on by a serious to the stings. The death is currently being treated as a tragic accident.

It follows a separate incident in June this year, where a man died after being stung by a wasp and having no idea he was allergic. Eamonn Hogan, 43, from Kilcoo, Co Down in Ireland, was later found to have a severe allergy to the stings, causing him to go into anaphylactic shock. He passed away in hospital two days later.

On the first anniversary of his death, Eamonn's wife Corrina spoke out to raise awareness on the need for people with allergies to carry an EpiPen. She said: “Eamonn didn’t know that he had a wasp/bee sting allergy; we would also like to encourage anyone who has a known allergy to carry your EpiPen as this can be the difference between life and death.”

Following the tragic accident, Anaphylaxi UK also issued a statement explaining that for the majority of people, an insect sting is usually uncomfortable, but not dangerous. For some however, a bee or wasp sting can be serious and lead to potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis.

The charity said: “To raise awareness, we re-launched our Bee Allergy Aware campaign to highlight the signs of a serious reaction and what to do in an emergency. If you have been stung by a bee or wasp and experienced symptoms away from the site of the sting, please contact your GP and ask for a referral to an allergy clinic.”