Heroic pit bull saves 8-year-old Oregon boy from swarm of bees

Last Tuesday, 8-year-old Jesse-Cole Shaver was playing with some friends near a creek behind their apartment complex in Oregon City, when one of the children accidentally stepped on a beehive.

A swarm of bees rose into the air, prompting the kids the flee the area.

Jesse-Cole, however, had difficulty escaping the angry bees. He was stung at least 24 times.

That’s when his pit bull intervened.

Jesse-Cole’s beloved pet, Hades, quickly dragged the little boy by the leg of his pants to safety.

"Hades saw me and came and dragged me up to the grass and stopped and let me crawl on her back and took me to my mom," Jesse-Cole told Fox 12.

“I just heard a bunch of screaming, then I saw my dog dragging my son up by his pants,” Jesse-Cole’s mother said.

"Oh, I thank my puppy," she added. “I’m so glad we adopted her.”

Jesse-Cole’s sister, Jasmine Jones, is allergic to bees. She was also playing by the creek that day, and managed to escape the bee-swarm — but only after being stung five times. Her mother was able to grab an EpiPen in time.

Both children were taken to the hospital for treatment, where doctors found bees in their hair. They were released a few hours later.

The siblings have since vowed to stay away from the trail behind their apartment building.

Pit bulls don’t always have the sweetest of reputations, but here at Yahoo Canada News, we’ve seen our share of pit bull heroes.

In 2012, Titan the pit bull received an award for saving his owner — twice.

That same year, Lilly the pit bull rescued her owner from an oncoming train.

And last fall, a rescued pit bull returned the favour and saved his owner’s 4-year-old son, waking up the family when the little boy had breathing problems in the middle of the night.