Bear Grylls’ health battles – everyday pain to life-threatening reaction

Survival expert Bear Grylls is returning to screens with his new series, Celebrity Bear Hunt.

Known worldwide as one of the most recognised faces of survival and outdoor adventure, the presenter will now be searching for prey as he hunts the celebrity contestants in the Costa Rican jungle.

The celebrities will no doubt come face to face with danger, something Bear, 50, is no stranger to.

While filming his series Treasure Island in 2019, the presenter suffered a severe allergic reaction after being stung by a bee, causing his eyes to completely swell up.

As it turns out, the TV star is severely allergic to bee stings and subsequently went into anaphylactic shock. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bear opted to continue working on the show as his face began swelling up.

However, the severity of his condition eventually became too much to handle, and the survivalist had to be rescued by paramedics, who immediately ran over and injected him with an EpiPen.

Brain surgeon Mano Shanmuganathan, a contestant on the show, revealed that paramedics rushed to treat Bear to prevent him from going into potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.

“The irony of Bear the survivalist being stung, having the potential of an allergic reaction, and needing to be treated with an EpiPen, was a bizarre moment,” Shanmuganathan told the Daily Star.

Bear had previously described his allergy as “ironic” after being stung on his show, Born Survivor, while rummaging for honey in 2016.

“The irony is out of all of the massive, lethal, aggressive, man-eating crocs, snakes, alligators I’ve dealt with over the years, the one that gets me is a bee. It’s typical.”

Alongside an allergy to bees, the former SAS trooper also struggles with ongoing back pain. Bear opened up about his ordeal in 2021, sharing an image of his back after having treatment.

At age 21, Bear suffered a terrifying parachute malfunction while skydiving in Zambia. After his parachute failed to open at 16,000 feet, he was left with three fractured vertebrae and a gruelling year of rehab.

Explaining his ordeal on , he wrote: “People sometimes ask me if my back ever hurts having broken it all those years ago in a parachuting accident. The answer is every day.

“And the treatment I get for it can be quite intense but life can at times be a battle for everyone and most people have their stuff to carry with them through the adventures.”

Choosing positivity over pain, he said: “I choose just to be grateful for the opportunity to still be able to live life as best I can.”

Bear also shared a top tip for resilience with his followers, adding: “PS second photo is the ice treatment I do every day that helps keep me strong inside and out!”

Another worrying health battle the Man vs. Wild star suffers from is high levels of cholesterol, caused by a genetic disease which killed his father and grandfather.

Bear’s father, former Tory MP Sir Michael Grylls, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 66 in 2001. His grandfather also died prematurely of heart disease.

It was only in late 2006 that Bear had a cholestrol test and he was shocked by what he found. Bear discovered he had a reading of six and a half – a number very high for someone of his age and fitness.

Bear explained: “I had been in the SAS Territorial Army and spent my life on physical challenges. Even when at home I exercised six days a week, alternating circuit training, running and yoga.”

Suffering from a hereditary predisposition to dangerously high levels of cholesterol, it means Bear is more at risk of having a heart attack, reports .

The condition – hypercholesterolaemia – approximately 34 million people worldwide.