A UPS driver, 24, has died from heat stroke inside his truck while he was out making deliveries, according to his family.
The delivery worker collapsed off the seat in his vehicle and was found unconscious inside the truck just after dropping off a package in Southern California, officials say.
Esteban Chavez Jr. was discovered unresponsive on June 25 about 20 minutes after he passed out inside the vehicle, according to local news reports from KTLA.
He was found by the person whose home he had just delivered packages too, who then phoned first responders.
By the time they arrived on the scene Chavez could not be saved.
“He collapsed off his seat in the truck,” the man’s father, Esteban Chavez Sr. told KTLA.
Read More News
“By the time anyone realized it, which was the owner of the house where he delivered the package to, and that was about 20 minutes after my son already collapsed,” he continued.
“By time first responders showed up, obviously it was a little too late.”
From his father’s perspective, the heat killed his son, who went by the nickname “lil Stevie,” according to the family’s GoFundMe site.
Temperatures were in the 90s on the day that Chavez Jr. died.
Most read in The Sun
“Everyone knows, it is pretty hot out there, those trucks are a hot box,” Chavez told the local news station.
“They have all these guys running around, delivering packages and trying to meet their quotas and do their jobs.”
No official cause of death has been determined and is still under investigation by local authorities and the medical examiner, according to ABC 7.
The driver’s tragic death came the day after he had marked his 24th birthday.
According to KTLA, he had been out of work with a shoulder injury, but was back on the job Saturday.
UPS has put out a statement responding to Chavez Jr.’s death.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our driver Esteban Chavez, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” the statement said, according to KTLA.
Read More On The Sun
“We are cooperating with the investigating authorities and are respectfully deferring questions about this incident to them.”
Chavez Jr. reportedly started working for UPS four years ago.
