Kalyn Rolan, who is a parent to two wonderful sons, was mourning her mother’s untimely death and trying to come to terms with the heartbreaking news that her mom was gone while simultaneously planning the funeral. Kalyn chose to make a phone call outdoors in Selma, Alabama, since the weather was nice.
Unfortunately, Kalyn would never return home to her two sons. Rather, she died in her husband’s arms, after a series of bizarre and horrifying events that began with a simple error that tragically cost the mom her life.
As soon as the 29-year-old mother sat down on the hay bale, she realized something was amiss, but it was too late. She leapt from her perch and screamed in terror as she was assaulted by fire ants in what had to be the most terrifying last minutes imaginable.
Although most people would find such an insect invasion unpleasant, it was catastrophic for Kalyn, who is highly allergic to ants and suffered an anaphylactic response to their stings. Due to the acute allergic response, her airway would close up, making it hard for her to breathe.
Losing a mother and a daughter back-to-back within a day is a lot for a person to bear, the victim’s mother-in-law, Sheila Rolan, told a local television station, recalling her daughter-in-law’s dying moments.
The ants started coming out and going all over her, and she fell from the haystack, and her son said he caught her and laid her on the ground, pulled her clothing off in an attempt to assist her and save her, yet he couldn’t rescue her, Sheila said. For Kalyn, who was already suffering from a severe allergic response to the insects, it was too late.
Once Kalyn Rolan’s immediate allergic response kicked in, she began to swell so much that it blocked her airway and made it hard for her to breathe. Even though Kalyn’s husband came right away, she had already left the scene by the time he got there.
She died in the arms of her son. The mom-in-law can only image what he’s going through right now, and then having to rescue her mother as well, Sheila said. She wishes she could do more for him, she wishes she could take that burden off his shoulders, the bereaved woman continued.
The family arranged a terrible double funeral for both Kalyn Rolan and her mom, with her two and seven-year-old sons there to bid farewell to their mother and grandmother.
The funerals, on top of the unimaginable loss, placed a financial burden on the already suffering family, so Sheila established a GoFundMe in the hopes of assisting with some of the family’s bills.
The rarity of this catastrophe is shown by records from Alabama, which indicate that no one was killed by ants in 2013, 2014, or 2015. Yellow jackets were responsible for three of the closest insect deaths.
The obscurity of this demonstrates how valuable life can be, that you may be gone in a second, and to live each day without taking anything for granted. It’s unfortunate that this father is left without his wife, and his kids will never get to know their mother while attempting to grasp why ants killed her.
