A veteran United States Postal Service carrier died after he collapsed as the heat index in Texas reached nearly 115 degrees on Tuesday, according to a report.
Eugene Gates Jr., 66, lost consciousness in the front yard of a Lakewood, Texas, home during his mail route, Fox 4 reported.
Gates, who had worked for the USPS for 36 years in Dallas, was rushed to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and later pronounced dead.
“He has been my mailman for over a year. I saw him yesterday,” Megan Lucas, a resident on Gates route, told the outlet.
A ring video from Lucas captured the moment Gates delivered mail to her home prior to him passing out, with the woman saying she had always tried offering the USPS worker water or a cold towel to help fight the heat.
“He was just the sweetest man. He really was,” she told the outlet.
The USPS has not confirmed if Gates died from heat-related illnesses but said it is “deeply saddened by the loss of life.”
“On behalf of NALC, I send my deepest sympathies to Brother Gates’s family, friends and colleagues,” National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian L. Renfroe said.
“Eugene was a dedicated letter carrier with a long and successful Postal Service career. He will be greatly missed by everyone, particularly his fellow branch members and customers.”
The heat index value during Gates’ route made it one of Dallas’ hottest afternoons of the season.
“My husband was trying to complete his assignment. That was his job…and the heat got to him,” Gates’ wife Carla told WFAA. “No one should have been outside working like that when the heat index is that high. No one. Deliver the mail earlier or later, or wait.”
“Am I mad at the postal service? Yes. Am I angry? Yes. The mail will still be there, but my husband won’t.”
Before Gates’ tragic death while on the clock, the USPS had recently changed the time carriers began delivering the mail from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
The carriers union met on Wednesday morning in the wake of one of their member’s death, with the union president saying they would move the start time for their carriers back to 7:30 a.m.
As the Gates family waits on an official cause of death, they revealed to the outlet that he leaves behind two children, multiple grandchildren, and his wife, Carla.
“That’s so sad that a wife is mourning her husband and children and grandchildren. This neighborhood will mourn him,” Lucas told the outlet.
