Wheaton postal worker taken to hospital after hornet attack

A postal worker was sent to the hospital Tuesday after being attacked by hornets in Wheaton.

The female worker was delivering mail on the 900 block of Dartmouth Drive when she apparently passed near a hornet nest that recently had been dislodged from a tree. She was stung dozens of times.

Resident Sandra Romashko said the worker knocked on her door after trying several other homes and said she needed to call 911.

"Apparently she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Romashko said.

WBBM Newsradio 780 reported the worker was stung 30 times and taken to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where she is expected to recover.

Romashko said the worker didn't appear to have any breathing problems, but she was rubbing her arm.

A pest control worker on the scene said the nest was occupied by baldfaced hornets, a type of yellowjacket. It is believed landscapers may have aggravated the nest.