RFP Staff
♦ A Salisbury, N.C. woman Diane Cupp at her home on the 200 block of Bethel Drive yesterday while her son Brian Cupp accidently uncovered a yellow jacket nest while using a leaf blower. According to a longtime neighbor Mr. Smith, Brian Cupp was swarmed by a cloud of yellow jackets. When he ran inside the house, the swarm followed him and stung both he and his mother Diane multiple times.
The Salisbury Fire Department and Rowan EMS treated the woman on the scene sometime around 4 p.m. Tuesday before she was transported to Novant Rowan Medical Center where she expired from cardiac arrest likely brought on by anaphylactic shock. The son is said to have some 20 yellow jacket stings and the mother 4.
It is not uncommon in Rowan County that people doing yard work encounter yellow jacket swarms during the fall and that some persons are susceptible to rapid onset allergic reactions.
Anaphylactic Shock:
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/anaphylaxis
Yellow Jackets:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket
***More on this story as more information arrive.***
