As much as I like fauna, I will have to be much more careful in the future, after what happened to me last Thursday. I hope my story can warn others if it ever occurs to them.
It was 7 pm and I had been working at home all day. I needed a break but did not feel like taking the mountain bike as I did not want to be out alone in the hills during sunset. I decided to take my Brompton folding bike for a short ride around town.
Just 1km away from the house, riding on a cycling lane, I felt something hitting my front. I first thought it had been some bird poo, but when I reached the front with my hand, I could feel what seemed like a bee or wasp flying away. Nothing harmful, so I kept cycling.
After about a minute, I started feeling some itching in my feet, nothing too uncomfortable so I did not think it had to do anything with the wasp and I kept cycling, but then after a short while I started feeling some dizziness and I realized the bee or wasp episode had to do with what my body was experiencing. From here on, all my description is from what I have been told by others or from my own deductions after a few days as I was completely unconscious.
I was alone at home, and I live in a pretty small town so I decided to go to my folks as they could take care of anything in the event I would need help.
Apparently, I made it to their house, parked the bike, and left my body in a chair in the kitchen (it is amazing how your body can guide you even when you don't know what you are doing). My mom (who's 85) started asking what was going on and as she saw no reaction from me, she started talking and pushing me for a reaction. She realized things were not improving and I was completely out. She could barely keep me on the chair and luckily she managed to call my dad who was not far from the house.
My dad got to the house about 10 minutes later with a friend to help and they immediately called an ambulance as they saw my condition, they threw cold water to my head and keep slapping my face as I was having many breathing difficulties.
When the ambulance showed up, they started measuring my pressure and after a while, I threw up all I had in my stomach, and apparently, my breath started to normalize.
As I was completely out, they didn't know what was the cause of my shock and took me to the hospital where I had several checks done all of them showing good condition. My wife came after my dad called her explaining what had happened and at 1 am we drove home.
The next day I remembered nothing but the initial episode so I mentioned to my wife about the bee or wasp bite and I started searching for information online. On Monday we visited an allergy specialist who confirmed I suffered Anaphylaxis, an extremely serious allergic reaction that affects the entire body and occurs within minutes of exposure to the allergen. It could also be defined as an "explosive" reaction of the immune system to an external agent.
I had some blood samples taken and now we are in the process of figuring out what was the specific animal who punched or bit me so I can go through immunotherapy but from now on, I will always have to carry a couple of adrenaline injectors in the event I suffer the same problem again. While searching on the net I realized I was lucky as several people die every year when running into this same situation.
Apparently, as I was running on the bike, my blood pumping was stronger and that speed up the distribution of the venom into my body. the doctor I visited last Monday told me I If it ever happens again, will have to stop biking, lay on the ground with the feed above the head, and try to relax while administrating the adrenaline.
Bees had punched me before and besides the pain, I never suffered anything else so I guess it could happen to anyone as it did happen to me. I just wanted to explain my story so that if ever run through a similar situation, you mention you could be suffering Anaphylaxis to anyone around you.
