Gilbert landscaper lucky to be alive after bee attack

A Valley landscaper is lucky to be alive after a killer bee attack.

It happened on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at a home in Gilbert. The home is in a community that knows Luis Navarro well.

He took the brunt of the bee attack, and doctors say he was minutes away from dying.

Luis Navarro

What started as a normal afternoon at the Sawtelle home, quickly turned terrifying.

"My family was in the backyard, a bunch of kids in the pool, my parents were over and Luis came running in from the back where he was attacked by bees, and he was yelling, ‘Michael, Michael, 911,'" Sawtelle said. "It was absolute chaos."

He was finishing up his landscaping work at the home when the bees attacked, stinging him roughly 300 times all over his body.

Navarro ran to get help. Sawtelle's wife told him to jump in the pool – that only made it worse.

Navarro ended up in the front yard where he passed out from the pain, but not before he prayed for his life.

While covered in bees, he prayed, saying, "God, don't let me die like this, this would be the worst way to die.'"

Mike Sawtelle

After a two-day hospital stay, Navarro was released and now can share how blessed he feels to be alive and able to get back to work soon.

Sawtelle started a GoFundMe to help with Navarro's hospital bills and any income missed during his recovery. He says the beloved landscaper is always thinking of others, even in his own trying times.

"In his absolute angelic mentality, in the hospital bed, he's lying in the hospital bed, just drugged up, saying, 'I think God put me in the way, so your kids wouldn't get stung. I think I was taking all of the stings so no one else would,' which, if you didn't love him already, that'll make you," Sawtelle said.

Sawtelle and Navarro both said that their biggest takeaway from this incident is that if you see bees, avoid them, run inside, do not try to hose yourself off or get into water.

Also, be sure your kids are aware of how to respond to a bee attack.