(The following story by Jim Killackey appeared on The Oklahoman website on August 7.)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A 47-year-old railroad worker who collapsed on the job in eastern Oklahoma is a possible heat stroke victim, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office reported Tuesday.
Jesus Tovar, of Wichita, Kan., died of hyperthermia on Aug. 2 at Eastern Oklahoma Medical Center in Poteau after he collapsed in Panama, OK.
Tovar’s body temperature at the time of his death was 107.9 degrees, said Kevin Rowland, chief investigator for the medical examiner. “That will kill you,” Rowland said.
If confirmed, Tovar would be the state’s first heat-stroke death in 2007, he said.
Rowland said that on Aug. 2, the high temperature was 94 degrees, but the heat index was higher.
Rowland said Tovar, part of a railroad spur work crew, had been sent back to a motel the previous day, Aug. 1, but returned to work the next day, Aug. 2. He collapsed at 3:51 p.m. that day, and was taken to the Poteau hospital’s emergency room, where he was pronounced dead, Rowland said.