A Rochester resident will receive an Australian Bravery Medal for helping save his neighbour from a swarm of aggressive bees.
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About 6pm on February 8 last year, Lyle Collins was helping a neighbour remove an old fence post with a tractor when they disturbed a wild bee hive.
The bees became agitated and flew at Mr Collins' older neighbour, covering his body.
Mr Collins told his neighbour to run, but he could not hear him; by this time, bees had entered the tractor cabin where Mr Collins was seated and as he exited, he too began to get attacked.
Mr Collins ran 400 metres to the house to get items for protection and returned to his neighbour, who was covered with bees and getting repeatedly stung.
He removed the bees from his neighbour and covered him with a sheet, before spraying insecticide and dragging his neighbour away from the area.
Both Mr Collins and his neighbour were taken to hospital for extensive bee stings.
Mr Collins has been commended for demonstrating "considerable bravery".
He is one of just 17 people receiving the Bravery Medal in this August's Australian Bravery Awards.
"The Australian honours system allows us as a nation to recognise and celebrate ordinary people who, in either a moment of peril or over a sustained period, do extraordinary things," Governor-General David Hurley said.
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