12 Year Old Dies From Fire Ant Bites

Fire Ants (also known as Red Imported Fire Ants) aren't something we have to worry about here in New York. But down south is another story. Cameron Espinosa of Corpus Christi Texas received multiple bites during the halftime warm up for his middle school football game he was playing in. After allergic reaction Cameron was rushed to the hospital where he later passed away.

As someone who has lived in Texas I have been fully introduced to fire ants. One of the first things you learn living in Texas is, if the ground your standing on is soft and spongy you are standing on a fire ant nest. And like a swarm of ninjas they crawl up your leg and won't bite till you few thousand in their pack. The first bite seems to set off a reaction like dominos falling and they all start biting you.These little demons will even drop off trees and fall down your shirt to bite you.

A fire ant sting somewhere on the pain scale between a horse fly bite and a bee sting. While fire ants are venomous and the venom it's self causes pain, I have never heard of anyone dying from an attack. I have seen fire ants swarm a bird and kill it. So my guess is Cameron's was bitten by more than just a few fire ants. Coupled with an allergy, proved to be deadly for this young football player.