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Quick thinking under fire: Willcox resident Harold Bob Lackner dodges death during killer bee attack
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
A 52-year-old Willcox man is lucky to be alive after a nightmarish bee attack near Klondyke Road last week.
Harold Bob Lackner estimates he was stung at least 300 times by bees on Sunday, Aug. 6.
"I lived because I'm too mean to let a few killer bees kill me," he told the Range News. "It's finally rained and I want to see it green up."
Lackner was driving a bulldozer that day, trying to repair damage to some levies near Walker Canyon.
"After all these floods, I was putting a dike back in," he said. "All the washouts at the ranch were taking water away from our cattle."
Lackner pushed some mesquite trees against the bank.
"There was a little hollow mesquite tree, and the bees came out of that," he said.
Lackner swatted at what he thought was a fly, and was attacked by a swarm.
"There were thousands of them," he said.
Lackner threw his hands over his face, which broke his glasses in half, each piece flying in a different direction.
"I stayed about five seconds longer than I should have, because I wanted to get the bulldozer out of there."
But the bulldozer was too slow, so Lackner ran a quarter of a mile to a water trough and jumped in.
"It was a good thing," he said. "I left the bulldozer on and some of the bees stayed with the bulldozer."
Nonetheless, other bees chased him, stinging him all the way to the trough, and hovering over the water.
"Every time I came up for air, the bees would sting my ears and face," he said.
Lackner took the straw hat he was wearing and put it over his face to breathe through.
Each time he went back under the water, he drowned a few more bees.
Lackner could feel his tongue swelling up, and feared he would drown.
"I got myself calmed down," he said. "I thought, 'This is the first rain we've had in a long time, and I wanted to be around to see what it does - the green-up.'"
Lackner also thought about how upset his parents and the rest of his family would be if he were to die this way.
He finally climbed out of the trough, and some of the bees stayed there.
"I did a high trot -- running down to my truck," he said. "Then I realized that would make the poison go fast through my body, so I slowed down."
Lackner continued to be stung by bees.
"There were still a lot of them in my shirt and hair," said Lackner, adding that at one point he took off his T-shirt and left it on the trail.
He "walked real fast" to the truck, scraping the bees' stingers off his skin with a knife.
Lackner got to his truck, but it wouldn't start for him.
All this time, bees were still stinging him.
"There were a few around me in the truck," he said.
Lackner couldn't see very well because his glasses were gone, but managed to take two Tylenol tablets he had in the truck.
He then got out of the truck and walked toward Klondyke Road, killing the last two bees, which he believes had been in his hair.
"They finally quit stinging at Klondyke Road," Lackner said. "I killed those two about two miles from the bulldozer."
His legs were locking up, and he knew he was starting to give out. He didn't think anyone would be home, but Chuck Hoisington saw Lackner and went over to him.
The neighbor called 911, as well as Lackner's sister-in-law, Kim Lackner.
"That country's tore up from the flood," he said, but Kim was able to get across the creek by driving a four-wheeler, bringing Benadryl and an epinephrine injection in case of an allergic reaction.
Kim gave her brother-in-law the Benadryl, but not the shot, though he did receive one later in the ambulance.
She and her sons, Michael and Kyle, put Lackner in a truck and met the two ambulances that came halfway from Safford.
Emergency medical personnel gave him oxygen and more Benadryl.
"They laid me down, but I couldn't breathe very well, so I had them sit me up and I breathed better," he said.
He asked the paramedics what they would do if he could no longer breathe.
"I would give you a tracheotomy and breath for you," one of the medics told him.
"I felt better after he told me that," Lackner said. "When I got to the hospital doors, I knew I was going to pass out. But I didn't."
Staff at Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center removed so many stingers that they had to change the bedding that was covered in them.
"They stopped counting at 300 stingers," said his wife Jeannie, adding that she and Lackner's sister Henrietta, pulled out another 60 stingers at home that night.
"We're still taking out stingers," she said.
Henrietta drove her brother back to Willcox from Safford. Lackner, who has diabetes, was nauseous the whole way home.
"My fever didn't break until about 2:30 a.m.," he said.
"I was laid up for 10 days. On Sunday, the week anniversary, I suffered what the doctor called a delayed reaction," Lackner said. "Dr. (Dawn) Walker has been great."
Now that he is up and around, Lackner is catching up on chores around his Willcox home.
He is battling the weeds in his yard and hoping to sell some pigs to help pay for his medical bills. He doesn't have medical insurance.
Sister-in-law, Kim, and her sons went back to the ranch three hours after the bee attack.
The tractor was still running and the bees were still attacking it, Lackner said.
They had to wait until dark to finally shut it off, Jeannie added.
Lackner wants his family and friends to know how grateful he is for their help.
"Everybody together saved me," he said. "It took a lot of people to save me."
"This is the most traumatic thing I ever had happen to me," said Lackner.
Jeannie said that she believes in the power of prayer.
"I had been praying when I got the news, but I hadn't known why," she said.
She also believes that taking good care of himself helped Lackner survive this ordeal.
"I think part of what saved him is that he is in good shape," she said. "He's been running and walking, and taking vitamin supplements."
"I believe that what really saved me is that I took my knife out and scraped off the stingers everywhere I could reach," Lackner said. "That's what saved me."
Asked how he thought to do so many things to help himself that day, Lackner said, "I think instinct just comes over you. If I hadn't stayed calm, I wouldn't have made it."
Lackner likes driving a tractor, and plans to keep doing so -- with some precautions.
"There I was enjoying running the CAT, and the next thing I knew I was fighting for my life," he said.
Lackner plans to keep in shape, put a bee net on the tractor as well as keeping a bee suit nearby, and keep a can of insecticide handy from now on.
He also plans to keep a vehicle near by.
"If I had to do it over again," Lackner said. "I'd move that truck closer to the bulldozer."
Harold Bob Lackner estimates he was stung at least 300 times by bees on Sunday, Aug. 6.
"I lived because I'm too mean to let a few killer bees kill me," he told the Range News. "It's finally rained and I want to see it green up."
Lackner was driving a bulldozer that day, trying to repair damage to some levies near Walker Canyon.
"After all these floods, I was putting a dike back in," he said. "All the washouts at the ranch were taking water away from our cattle."
Lackner pushed some mesquite trees against the bank.
"There was a little hollow mesquite tree, and the bees came out of that," he said.
Lackner swatted at what he thought was a fly, and was attacked by a swarm.
"There were thousands of them," he said.
Lackner threw his hands over his face, which broke his glasses in half, each piece flying in a different direction.
"I stayed about five seconds longer than I should have, because I wanted to get the bulldozer out of there."
But the bulldozer was too slow, so Lackner ran a quarter of a mile to a water trough and jumped in.
"It was a good thing," he said. "I left the bulldozer on and some of the bees stayed with the bulldozer."
Nonetheless, other bees chased him, stinging him all the way to the trough, and hovering over the water.
"Every time I came up for air, the bees would sting my ears and face," he said.
Lackner took the straw hat he was wearing and put it over his face to breathe through.
Each time he went back under the water, he drowned a few more bees.
Lackner could feel his tongue swelling up, and feared he would drown.
"I got myself calmed down," he said. "I thought, 'This is the first rain we've had in a long time, and I wanted to be around to see what it does - the green-up.'"
Lackner also thought about how upset his parents and the rest of his family would be if he were to die this way.
He finally climbed out of the trough, and some of the bees stayed there.
"I did a high trot -- running down to my truck," he said. "Then I realized that would make the poison go fast through my body, so I slowed down."
Lackner continued to be stung by bees.
"There were still a lot of them in my shirt and hair," said Lackner, adding that at one point he took off his T-shirt and left it on the trail.
He "walked real fast" to the truck, scraping the bees' stingers off his skin with a knife.
Lackner got to his truck, but it wouldn't start for him.
All this time, bees were still stinging him.
"There were a few around me in the truck," he said.
Lackner couldn't see very well because his glasses were gone, but managed to take two Tylenol tablets he had in the truck.
He then got out of the truck and walked toward Klondyke Road, killing the last two bees, which he believes had been in his hair.
"They finally quit stinging at Klondyke Road," Lackner said. "I killed those two about two miles from the bulldozer."
His legs were locking up, and he knew he was starting to give out. He didn't think anyone would be home, but Chuck Hoisington saw Lackner and went over to him.
The neighbor called 911, as well as Lackner's sister-in-law, Kim Lackner.
"That country's tore up from the flood," he said, but Kim was able to get across the creek by driving a four-wheeler, bringing Benadryl and an epinephrine injection in case of an allergic reaction.
Kim gave her brother-in-law the Benadryl, but not the shot, though he did receive one later in the ambulance.
She and her sons, Michael and Kyle, put Lackner in a truck and met the two ambulances that came halfway from Safford.
Emergency medical personnel gave him oxygen and more Benadryl.
"They laid me down, but I couldn't breathe very well, so I had them sit me up and I breathed better," he said.
He asked the paramedics what they would do if he could no longer breathe.
"I would give you a tracheotomy and breath for you," one of the medics told him.
"I felt better after he told me that," Lackner said. "When I got to the hospital doors, I knew I was going to pass out. But I didn't."
Staff at Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center removed so many stingers that they had to change the bedding that was covered in them.
"They stopped counting at 300 stingers," said his wife Jeannie, adding that she and Lackner's sister Henrietta, pulled out another 60 stingers at home that night.
"We're still taking out stingers," she said.
Henrietta drove her brother back to Willcox from Safford. Lackner, who has diabetes, was nauseous the whole way home.
"My fever didn't break until about 2:30 a.m.," he said.
"I was laid up for 10 days. On Sunday, the week anniversary, I suffered what the doctor called a delayed reaction," Lackner said. "Dr. (Dawn) Walker has been great."
Now that he is up and around, Lackner is catching up on chores around his Willcox home.
He is battling the weeds in his yard and hoping to sell some pigs to help pay for his medical bills. He doesn't have medical insurance.
Sister-in-law, Kim, and her sons went back to the ranch three hours after the bee attack.
The tractor was still running and the bees were still attacking it, Lackner said.
They had to wait until dark to finally shut it off, Jeannie added.
Lackner wants his family and friends to know how grateful he is for their help.
"Everybody together saved me," he said. "It took a lot of people to save me."
"This is the most traumatic thing I ever had happen to me," said Lackner.
Jeannie said that she believes in the power of prayer.
"I had been praying when I got the news, but I hadn't known why," she said.
She also believes that taking good care of himself helped Lackner survive this ordeal.
"I think part of what saved him is that he is in good shape," she said. "He's been running and walking, and taking vitamin supplements."
"I believe that what really saved me is that I took my knife out and scraped off the stingers everywhere I could reach," Lackner said. "That's what saved me."
Asked how he thought to do so many things to help himself that day, Lackner said, "I think instinct just comes over you. If I hadn't stayed calm, I wouldn't have made it."
Lackner likes driving a tractor, and plans to keep doing so -- with some precautions.
"There I was enjoying running the CAT, and the next thing I knew I was fighting for my life," he said.
Lackner plans to keep in shape, put a bee net on the tractor as well as keeping a bee suit nearby, and keep a can of insecticide handy from now on.
He also plans to keep a vehicle near by.
"If I had to do it over again," Lackner said. "I'd move that truck closer to the bulldozer."
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