It was supposed to be an ordinary Monday evening in the Arizona desert. Two boys, some BB guns, and an old rusted car sitting in a wash behind a family home in Safford. What happened next would turn into a terrifying fight for survival—and an unlikely viral story about the power of mental strength and pop culture inspiration.
Andrew Kunz, just 11 years old at the time, was playing with a friend near his home off Sunset Boulevard on February 20, 2017. The boys were shooting their BB guns at an abandoned vehicle that had been placed in the gully to prevent erosion. Neither of them knew that hidden inside that rusted metal shell was a massive hive of Africanized honeybees—the infamous “killer bees” that have made Arizona their home since the early 1990s.
The Attack Begins
The sound of BB pellets striking metal echoed through the desert air. For the bees living inside the car, it was a declaration of war. Africanized bees are notoriously defensive of their hives, reacting to perceived threats up to ten times faster than their European counterparts. Within seconds, the swarm exploded from the vehicle in a terrifying black cloud.
“Andrew was trying to run up the hill to get away from them and they just kept attacking him,” recalled his grandmother, Petrea Kunz, in an interview with local news. “He kind of rolled back down and went into a fetal position trying to protect himself.”
Andrew’s friend managed to escape, but Andrew wasn’t so lucky. The bees descended on him with relentless fury, their stingers piercing his skin hundreds of times. His grandmother described his head looking like a “pin cushion” from the sheer number of stings covering his scalp alone.
As the attack intensified, Andrew managed to call his grandmother. “Help me, help me,” he cried into the phone. “The bees are killing me.”
Those words would haunt the family for days to come.
An 11-Year-Old’s Impossible Odds
What made this attack particularly deadly was a critical detail: Andrew was severely allergic to insect stings. Years earlier, when he was in kindergarten, he had been stung more than 90 times by ants and doctors discovered he was allergic to any stinging insect. Now, with over 400 bee stings pumping venom into his small body, his life hung by a thread.
Making matters worse, these weren’t ordinary honeybees. Africanized bees—the result of a 1950s Brazilian breeding experiment gone wrong—are responsible for thousands of deaths since their accidental release in 1957. In Arizona, experts estimate that 90-100% of wild bee colonies are now Africanized hybrids. While their venom isn’t more potent than regular honeybees, their aggressive swarming behavior and tendency to attack in massive numbers make them extraordinarily dangerous.
“It felt like 400 bullets were shooting me,” Andrew later told reporters from his hospital bed.
As emergency services raced to the scene, Andrew lay engulfed in bees in that desert wash, his body swelling, his breathing becoming labored. Time was running out.
The Hero Who Ran Into the Swarm
When Graham County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they spotted Andrew in the gully but couldn’t reach him—the bees immediately attacked them too. Sgt. Jacob Carpenter and Deputy Justin Baughman retreated approximately 150 feet, desperately trying to figure out how to save the boy as the swarm continued its assault.
Then Safford Fire Chief Clark Bingham arrived.
Despite being allergic to bee stings himself, Bingham didn’t hesitate. Without a protective bee suit, guided only by the voices of the deputies shouting directions, he ran straight into the swarm. He found Andrew disoriented, standing in the middle of the attack, completely covered in bees.
“He was kind of disoriented and just kind of standing there, so I grabbed him by the belt and the arm and we started running down the wash,” Bingham recalled. “I told him ‘we have to get out of here. Nobody can help us where we are.'”
Bingham tried to carry Andrew up the hill to safety, but the boy didn’t have the strength. So the fire chief dragged him through roughly 200 yards of desert terrain while hundreds of bees continued stinging both of them. Bingham would later be treated for more than 20 stings to his face, arms, neck, and ears. The deputy who assisted was stung over 100 times.
Sgt. Carpenter later told Gila Valley Central that “dealing with the bees and the inability to get to Andrew was the hardest ordeal he has ever faced in his 17-year career.” He described it as a “scene of carnage.”
The Mind Over Body Moment
While chaos erupted around him and emergency responders risked their lives, something remarkable was happening inside Andrew’s young mind. As the pain became unbearable and his body began to fail, Andrew turned to an unlikely source of strength: his favorite anime character, Vegeta, from the hit series Dragon Ball Z.
Vegeta, the proud Saiyan prince known for his incredible determination and refusal to surrender even in the face of overwhelming odds, had long been Andrew’s hero. In the show, Vegeta uses a technique called “Full Force Power” to push through seemingly impossible challenges.
“All I could think of at that time was to use ‘Full Force Power,'” Andrew later explained to news crews.
During those terrifying minutes before help arrived, Andrew mentally transformed himself into the warrior he admired. He focused his mind on Vegeta’s determination, drawing strength from the character’s unwavering will to survive. It was a psychological defense mechanism that may have literally saved his life.
When interviewed by reporters days later, still swollen and recovering in the hospital, Andrew made a statement that would capture hearts around the world: “I’m Andrew, but you can call me Vegeta.”
The Science Behind Survival
Andrew was rushed by helicopter to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He had to be intubated initially and spent four days in the pediatric intensive care unit. Medical experts treating him explained that his survival was largely due to two factors: the rapid response of first responders and—remarkably—the absence of a fatal allergic reaction despite his known allergy.
But doctors also noted something else: Andrew’s mental focus may have played a genuine role in his survival. During extreme trauma, the mind’s ability to compartmentalize pain and maintain consciousness can be the difference between life and death. By focusing intensely on becoming Vegeta and channeling that character’s strength, Andrew may have kept himself from going into shock or losing consciousness during those critical minutes.
“Despite extreme pain and massive swelling, Andrew stayed conscious until help arrived,” medical staff noted. This mental fortitude, whether inspired by anime or simple human determination, gave emergency responders the window they needed to save his life.
From Tragedy to Inspiration
Andrew’s story didn’t end in that hospital room. After news reports featuring his Vegeta quote went viral, something extraordinary happened. Gila Valley Central, the local news outlet that broke the story, received emails from Funimation Entertainment, the company that produces the English version of Dragon Ball Z and manages the franchise in the United States.
The voice actor who portrays Vegeta in the English dub, Christopher Sabat, personally called Andrew to congratulate him on his bravery. Funimation invited Andrew to be their guest at the Phoenix Comic-Con in May 2017, giving the young survivor a chance to celebrate his favorite series and meet other fans who had been inspired by his story.
Less than two weeks after his near-death experience, Andrew attended a barbecue dinner held in honor of the first responders who saved his life. Photos from the event show him smiling and playing, looking almost completely recovered—a testament to both modern medicine and the resilience of youth.
The City of Safford awarded Fire Chief Clark Bingham a medal of valor for his heroic actions. Andrew’s grandfather, Kreg Kunz, spoke at the ceremony: “I think it’s fantastic honoring some heroes who are willing to give of themselves and their own lives to save a child that’s in need. We don’t have very many of those people left in the world, but we got ’em here in Safford, and we’re going to hang on to them.”
The Broader Lesson
Andrew’s story spread worldwide, appearing in news outlets across multiple countries and languages. It resonated because it touched on something universal: the human capacity to find strength in the most unexpected places during our darkest moments.
For some, that strength comes from faith. For others, from family or past experiences. For an 11-year-old boy facing a swarm of killer bees in the Arizona desert, it came from an anime character he’d watched countless times on television—a character who never gave up, no matter how desperate the situation became.
“The story spread worldwide as a powerful reminder of how focus, mental strength, and the will to endure can matter in life-or-death moments,” noted multiple news reports covering the incident.
Psychologists who study trauma survival have long documented the importance of having something to focus on during extreme pain or danger. Holocaust survivors, POWs, and accident victims have all reported using mental techniques—visualization, prayer, or focusing on loved ones—to maintain consciousness and will to live during their ordeals. Andrew’s use of a fictional character as his mental anchor fits perfectly within this documented phenomenon.
Living With Killer Bees
Andrew’s attack also served as a stark reminder of the realities of living in Arizona, where Africanized bees have become a permanent part of the ecosystem. These bees arrived in the state in 1993 and have thrived in the desert climate ever since.
Unlike their European cousins, Africanized bees nest in unusual places—old tires, valve boxes, abandoned vehicles, water meter boxes, and debris piles. They’re easily provoked by noise and vibration, which is why lawn mowers, power tools, and—as Andrew discovered—BB guns can trigger deadly attacks.
Experts emphasize that while these bees are dangerous when defending their hive, they’re not inherently aggressive. “If you encounter an Africanized bee out foraging in a patch of flowers, it will not behave differently than a European bee,” explains Adrian Fisher, a honeybee researcher with Arizona State University. “It’s only when you approach their hive and they perceive you as potentially being an invader that you would see a difference in their response.”
The key to coexisting with these bees is awareness and caution. If you spot bees frequently entering or exiting a particular area, keep your distance and call professional pest control. If attacked, experts advise: cover your face (especially your eyes, nose, and mouth), and run in a straight line to the nearest indoor shelter. Never jump into water—the bees will simply wait for you to surface.
Andrew’s Legacy
Today, Andrew Kunz is remembered not just as a survivor, but as an inspiration. His story has been referenced in anime communities, survival education materials, and even in discussions about the power of positive thinking and mental resilience.
The rusted car that housed the killer hive has been removed, and the bee colony destroyed. But the lessons from that February evening in 2017 remain: heroes come in unexpected forms, mental strength can be as important as physical strength, and sometimes the stories we love can give us the power to write our own survival story.
When reporters asked Andrew about his survival instincts and his recovery, he responded with characteristic boyish simplicity: “I survived the 400 stings,” he said with a fist pump—still channeling that Saiyan warrior spirit.
Fire Chief Bingham, who continues to respond to bee-related emergencies in the Safford area, offers this advice: “We need the bees—they provide pollination for the crops—but if you’re attacked by them, cover your face and run away.”
And if you need a little extra mental strength to keep running? Well, Andrew Kunz showed us that it’s perfectly okay to channel your inner Vegeta.