Scorpion Stings Passenger In Plane Landing At O'Hare

CHICAGO — A scorpion apparently hitched a ride on Providencio Rodriguez’s flight from Mexico City over the weekend.

Rodriguez, of Addison, Ill., said he felt several stings on his back around midnight Sunday, as Mexican Airlines Flight 804 prepared to land at O’Hare International Airport.

Rodriguez, 70, was out of the hospital Monday afternoon when he told his story to NBC5’s Dick Johnson.

Rodriguez had told that story about a hundred times, Johnson said, including to the British Broadcasting Company in London, and each time in his native Spanish. He told it with a grin that belies the frightening experience he had.

Johnson said that Rodriguez did not go into cardiac arrest or shock as some might do with a sudden scare such as this, and everyone involved in the capture of the scorpion kept their cool as well. Among those to jump to the elderly man’s assistance, was his son who was in the seat next to him.

Through a Telemundo reporter’s interpretation, and while willingly showing off the telltale marks, the victim told NBC5 that he felt something crawling on his back then biting or stinging him as his flight was landing at O’Hare Airport.

He trapped the critter in the folds of his shirt while his son alerted flight attendants. Paramedics were called to rush him to an emergency room.

Rodriguez said this is not the first time he’s suffered a scorpion attack after being with relatives in the Mexican countryside. Johnson said that may explain why he had a rather mild reaction.

That’s also why he may be inclined to sample some of his duty free purchases Monday evening in a toast to surviving another attack.

A Mexicana Airlines spokeswoman said “this has never happened before on any national or international flight. We have very strict procedures for cleaning and disinfecting each flight before it boards any passengers and leaves any station.”

Rodriguez and his son are looking forward to the relative calm of tending to the dishes at their jobs at a west suburban hotel later this week.