A Maine mother says a simple decision to pick up a beautiful green beetle during a family outing nearly cost her life.
Antoinette Webb, 44, was visiting historic Fort Knox in Maine with her 9-year-old twins, Ella and Jonah, when she spotted a bright green bug she had never seen before.
What happened next turned into a terrifying medical emergency.
“A berry green, beautiful beetle I’ve never seen,” Webb recalled to local outlet WABI. “And I just picked him up, and I said, ‘Whoa, you’re so pretty.’ And within seconds, I felt burning through my body.”
Webb said her symptoms hit almost immediately after touching the insect.
As panic set in, she managed to rush uphill toward a nearby gift shop for help before collapsing.
“That’s all I remember,” she said.
The frightening scene unfolded at Fort Knox, where staff members quickly realized something was seriously wrong.
Dean Martin, executive director of Friends of Fort Knox and a former Army medic with 24 years of experience, rushed to help Webb while emergency crews were called.
Martin later said the allergic reaction was unlike anything he had ever witnessed.
“She passes out because of a constricted airway; she’s got a lack of air. She’s got blue lips,” Martin recalled.
As Webb struggled to breathe, Martin and others tried desperately to keep her alive while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
“We gave her Benadryl. That’s the best we had,” he explained.
At one point, Martin believed Webb had stopped breathing entirely.
“I was just about to make the decision that I’m going to have to do mouth-to-mouth,” he said.
Meanwhile, Martin’s wife stayed with Webb’s terrified children while another staff member assisted during the emergency.
According to reports, Webb’s allergic reaction became so severe that she temporarily lost her eyesight and later had no memory of what happened between touching the beetle and waking up in the hospital.
Doctors ultimately administered four epinephrine shots to stop the life-threatening reaction.
Medical experts later determined Webb had suffered what was described as a “one in a million” allergic reaction to a six-spotted tiger beetle.
After surviving the terrifying ordeal, Webb returned to Fort Knox about a day later with her children to personally thank the people who helped save her life.
“I was just bawling,” Webb said while speaking to Martin. “Because of you, they have their mom today.”
“When I saw him, I immediately knew I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him,” she added through tears.
Martin, meanwhile, insisted he simply did what anyone would have done.
“If the roles were reversed, I’m sure Antoinette would’ve done the same for me,” he said.
Fort Knox later praised staff members, first responders, and the 911 operator involved in the rescue, thanking everyone who helped save Webb during the terrifying medical emergency.