Bee-sting cure put me in hospital says movie star Butler

HOLLYWOOD star Gerard Butler has revealed he was admitted to hospital after being injected with venom from 23 bee stings.

The Scottish actor, pictured, said he had misused a remedy to ease aches from performing stunts, and the result sent him into anaphylactic shock.

An ancient treatment originally involved angering the bees so that they stung the patient on the affected area. Its benefits have never been proven.

But it has been used to treat arthritis, multiple sclerosis and high blood pressure. If patients cannot face being stung by live bees, they can be injected with venom.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow last year described the bizarre treatment as ‘pretty incredible’ after she used it to get rid of inflammation and scarring.

Butler used the artificial bee sting after 12 hours of working on wires in a 65lb spacesuit for new sci-fi thriller Geostorm. He said: ‘It was recommended that I take bee venom as an anti-inflammatory. So, I was injected with 23 bee stings. My arms swelled up, I went into anaphylactic shock and was hospitalised. It turns out you are meant to have one bee sting per week!’

The 47-year-old, known for his role as King Leonidas in the film 300, also faced a close call in a ‘ hefty’ motorbike crash two weeks ago. Recalling the accident, he told The Graham Norton Show last night: ‘A woman went from being parked to doing a U-turn and hit me. I did a somersault about 30ft in the air.

‘I jumped straight up but realised I done something bad. I broke my ankle and damaged my knee. It was pretty hefty.’ Butler was joined on the BBC One couch by actor Jeff Goldblum, comic Jack Whitehall, singer Gregory Porter and dashed US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.