'Freak Accident' Bee Sting Caused Hatboro Officer To Go Into Cardiac Arrest

HATBORO, PA — Ryan Allen had just gotten home from a gym workout on Oct. 14 around 2:30 p.m. when he went upstairs to speak with his wife, Whitney, who works from home, to say he had gotten stung by a yellow jacket.

Within mere minutes of that conversation, Allen, 35, an officer with the Hatboro Police Department, would be unconscious, having gone into anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest due to an allergic reaction from the bee sting.

Allen, a beloved member of the police department, remains sedated in critical condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia.

“Just a freak accident,” Whitney Allen told Patch in an interview.

Patch first reported on Officer Allen’s medical episode on Monday morning, when borough officials merely said he had been taken to the hospital after suffering a severe medical emergency.

Police Chief James Gardner first disclosed to Patch Monday afternoon that his officer had been stung by a bee, which led to the cardiac arrest. Patch was then connected with Whitney Allen, mom to a three-year-old and pregnant with the couple’s second child.

Whitney Allen said she would have never expected this to happen, given that she believes her husband had been stung before, and, to her knowledge, did not appear to be allergic to bee stings.

“We had no idea,” she said.

Whitney said her husband believed that the yellow jacket had somehow gotten into his shirt while he had the windows open while driving home from the gym on his day off from work.

She recalls her husband saying “I really don’t feel very good” when he came upstairs to tell her he’d been stung. From there, Officer Allen walked down the stairs and out to the porch, which is where he collapsed.

Whitney Allen said she called 911 and then began chest compressions at the direction of the emergency dispatch operator.

EMS personnel continued CPR when they arrived at the home and then took Officer Allen to Doylestown Hospital. Whitney Allen said she later had her husband transferred by helicopter to Penn Presbyterian in the city because that hospital is a Level-1 trauma center with more treatment options.

“We’re in a waiting pattern right now,” Whitney Allen said, noting that her husband continues to be sedated.

Whitney Allen said the next step is for doctors to bring her husband out of sedation so they can assess if there was any type of brain damage from the period of time when he may have suffered any oxygen loss due to the cardiac arrest.

Whitney Allen said she appreciates all of the community support she has been receiving since the terrible accident.

Gardner, the police chief, credited the quick action of Whitney Allen with potentially saving her husband from a worse fate, since she immediately called 911 and began CPR before paramedics arrived.

“He’s a young man. He’s in good [physical] condition,” Gardner said, calling the incident a terribly freak accident.

The chief thanked the Hatboro community for its support and for rallying behind Allen as he continues receiving hospital care.

Allen is well-loved by fellow members of the police department, Gardner said, and was instrumental in helping to raise the funds to start the department’s K9 unit, where Allen is currently a handler with his four-legged partner, Louie.

“He’s done a lot in the community,” Gardner said of Allen.

Officer Allen and Whitney Allen reside in Doylestown Township, Bucks County.

Members of the public who would like to assist the family during this difficult time can check out this link to the Montgomery County Hero Fund to make donations.