Texas UPS driver dies days after collapsing in extreme heat

A Texas UPS worker died this week after becoming ill amid an extreme heatwave, the company said. 

Christopher Begley, 57, worked for the parcel delivery company for 28 years before he died Monday. He was assigned to UPS’ facility in McKinney, a Dallas suburb. 

“We are saddened by the loss of our driver Christopher Begley and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” a UPS statement to Fox News Digital said. “We are cooperating with the authorities as they continue to investigate the cause of death. We train our people to recognize the symptoms of heat stress, and we respond immediately to any request for help.”

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On Aug. 23, Begley was delivering a package in the heat and eventually called UPS management informing them that he wasn’t feeling well, the shipping company said. Temperatures in the Dallas area that day reached up to 103 degrees. 

He collapsed outside a customer’s location and was hospitalized, Dave Reeves, president of the Teamsters Local Union 767, which represents UPS drivers, told The Dallas Morning News. Fox News Digital has reached out to Reeves. 

The company said it responded to the location and “ensured he had water and was resting in a cool environment.”

Begley was offered medical attention by UPS, which he declined several times, the company said. He told them he had recovered and asked to be taken home, UPS said. 

Begley was given the rest of the day off and was granted additional days off.  

“We received word four days later, on Sunday, that he had been hospitalized,” the company said. 

A fundraising page for Begley said he was “a father of two and a loving husband” and “hoped to retire in the next few years.”