In his nearly four decades of responding to emergencies, R.I. State Police Col. James Manni said he’d never been on the other side of one of those calls.
That is, until July 23.
Manni said he was outside in his yard weed whacking that evening when he was stung several times by a swarm of yellow jackets.
“I’ve been stung many times in my life being an avid outdoorsman, so I really didn’t think too much about it,” he recalled during a South Kingstown Town Council meeting Monday evening.
Manni said his wife heard the commotion and ran outside to help.
“After some choice expletives that I was yelling in the yard, she said ‘alright, relax,'” Manni said with a chuckle. “But within minutes I knew something wasn’t right, I could just tell.”
Once inside, Manni said he decided to take a cold shower in hopes that it would make him feel better.