The New Baltimore police chief was hospitalized after he had a severe allergic reaction to bees

NEW BALTIMORE, Mich. (WXYZ) - Dozens of bees sting New Baltimore’s police chief, who is very allergic to them.  Chief Tim Wiley is out of the hospital now and hopes his story can help others. 

“I almost felt like I was on fire and getting doused with grease,” said Chief Wiley.

The bees swarmed him after a hive the size of a volleyball fell on his foot from a barbeque cover he had just shaken out in the parking lot of the department.

“I had glanced down at my shirt and where my firearm was on my side i couldn’t even see the top of my gun because it was covered in bees,” said Chief Wiley.

A surveillance camera on the outside of the building caught some of the frightening moments as he started to have an allergic reaction.  He had just come off shift after working plain clothes so he had shorts on.

“They were burrowing into my socks of my shoes and all over the front of my shirt,” said Chief Wiley.

He ran inside for his Epipen, injected himself then told a deputy to call an ambulance before he collapsed.  He became disoriented and it caused him to resist help from EMS and a sergeant had to hold him down.  Chief Wiley’s airway started closing on the way to the hospital and EMS started CPR.

“I wasn’t responding, I was gasping for air.  It certainly looked like it could’ve been a very bad situation,” said Chief Wiley.

But he’s okay now, and that is why he and his 13-year-old son Brendan can laugh at the video now.

“He’s deathly allergic.  His throat automatically closes up so we were very scared,” said Brendan Wiley.

Chief Wiley is sharing his story in the hopes it could possibly save a life.

“If you do have a bee allergy of if you don’t know if don’t know if your child has an allergy, go the lengths to get them tested,” said Chief Wiley.

Chief Wiley said this is not slowing him down and he’s getting right back into the swing of things.