Extreme heat contributed to his brother’s death. He worries he could be next
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. experienced dangerously hot weather in the last week. Extreme heat is more common because of climate change, and heat waves contribute to thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year. This summer NPR is remembering lives cut short by such climate-related weather - today, Wilmer Vasquez of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 29 years old when he collapsed last year while working as a roofer during a heat wave. Wilmer's brother, Yonatan, is also a roofer in South Florida, and he sat down with Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk.
YONATAN VASQUEZ: My name is Yonatan Vasquez. I'm a roofer here to talk about my brother Wilmer Vasquez.
REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: What's your earliest memory of your brother?
VASQUEZ: Earliest memory - yeah, me and my brothers fighting see who get the top bunk bed. I was born in '92, and he was born in '93. Since we were close in age, we used to, you know, go to middle school, then high school together. But me and my brother did not like school since he would skip. And what I would usually do is just cook him some egg and pancakes. We'd just watch TV, you know, like "Jerry Springer" and "Price Is Right," you know? This is not meant for kids, but you learn stuff about life, you know? So, you know, it's not all sunshines and rainbows. So - but, I mean, we did a lot of stuff together, you know?
HERSHER: When Yonatan and I sat down to talk about his brother, the memories just came pouring out - a million little moments together.
VASQUEZ: You know, he - I only been to one concert in my life, and he took me to that.
HERSHER: Yonatan says Wilmer was always the more extroverted brother. Wilmer went to college briefly and then joined the Navy, but he didn't like living on a ship. It was too lonely.
VASQUEZ: You know what I mean? He just wanted to be around people. You know, he was always encouraging people, you know, making sure they were doing good. He liked to be the center of attention. I mean, he would dance on the roof, like, that kind of stuff. He'll make sure at least he'll get people laughing. I mean, I could care less about people. I'm the total opposite. We had the same wavelength but, like, different - I don't know - vibration, I guess I would say. He would like rap music. I like classic rock. He knew a lot about sports and movies, and I like science stuff. It was just opposite sides of things.
HERSHER: Despite their differences, both brothers ended up in the roofing business. Their father had also been a roofer and multiple uncles. It was kind of the family profession, although Yonatan says he wishes it wasn't.
VASQUEZ: I wish I would have chose a different career path, honestly. I'd rather be something else. Roofing is - it's a dangerous job. And you always see accidents, you know? Summer is between June and September. It's probably the worst. That's when you probably see the - more accidents.
HERSHER: Is it hotter up there than it is on the ground?
VASQUEZ: Yeah. It's about probably like 140, 150 degrees. If you touch one of the tiles, it burns your hands, especially, like, the asphalt shingles. They absorb a lot of heat. To me, what gets me the most is probably the humidity. I think that's what got to my brother as well. You would see him take out it socks, and it'd just be drenched. I mean, when I first started doing it, I used to cramp up like crazy. There was a couple of times where I thought I was going to die. Like, two times, I'd just start seeing the light just going in and in and out, in and out, like, oh, my God. I couldn't open up my fingers, and everybody told me my body felt cold.
HERSHER: Feeling cold, muscle cramps, loss of consciousness - those are all symptoms of potentially deadly heat illness. And Yonatan says they're common among the roofers he works with in South Florida. It scares him. And it's physically exhausting. He says he and his brother coped with the stress - physical and emotional - by drinking too much. Yonatan's been trying to quit alcohol. And he was so worried about the heat that he tried to get his brother to switch careers.
VASQUEZ: Like, maybe try a factory, you know? Try something you work inside 'cause I don't think he can handle outside. And I'm telling my brother, you know, he should probably just call it quits. Like, no, but if I be a truck driver, I'm going to talk to nobody, just me all alone. I don't think he would have liked that.
HERSHER: Last summer was the hottest ever recorded in South Florida. On August 21, 2023, both Yonatan and Wilmer went to work as usual.
VASQUEZ: The day was humid. That's what I remember. From what I remember, it was, like, 91 degrees that day, but with the humidity, it's probably, like, 98.
HERSHER: Wilmer was assigned to deliver roofing tiles in the morning.
VASQUEZ: And then he told me around 12 o'clock, after he finished delivering the tiles, that he had to put up some fascia. And...
HERSHER: What is fascia?
VASQUEZ: The wood around the eave of the roof.
HERSHER: Wilmer was working up on the roof in the heat of the day. Yonatan had finished his work at a different site, and at some point in the afternoon, he started getting calls from Wilmer's colleagues.
VASQUEZ: I remember people calling me. Hey. How's your brother? He really cramped up today, man. Like, we had to take him out with the car.
HERSHER: Someone gave Wilmer a ride home. Yonatan could see that his brother was sick from the heat. His muscles were cramping. He was dizzy.
VASQUEZ: Yeah, he didn't want to be in the AC. Anytime you put AC on him or a fan, he'll tell to take it away.
HERSHER: Feeling cold even though the body is overheating is a common symptom of serious heat illness. Yonatan figured if his brother rested and drank Gatorade, he'd feel better the next day. That's how it had gone in the past when one of them got sick from working in extreme heat. But Wilmer's condition worsened overnight. Early in the morning, Yonatan called an ambulance.
VASQUEZ: His body just felt cold, like, completely cold cold. And he was not responsive at all.
HERSHER: Wilmer died at the hospital later that morning. Yonatan was his brother's emergency contact, so he was the first to find out.
VASQUEZ: I didn't really cry at all until the doctor told my mom, you know, because my mom just - like, her soul left her body and just looked right at me. And she's like - she just - and her face is like, are you for real? Like, it's true. And then we went inside, and that's when I think I broke down.
HERSHER: Yonatan says it's obvious to him that climate change played a role in his brother's death. But he says a lot of people don't understand how hot it really is and how dangerous that heat can be.
VASQUEZ: I have to explain to people that my brother died, and it was because of it was being the hottest year on record. It wasn't because of his drinking problem. It was not because of his diet. It was not because of his mental state. No. And it's only going to get worse 'cause people - they don't realize how hot it is because when they work, it's in air conditioning. When they go to their car, it's air conditioning. And when they go to their house, to work, everything's air conditioning. They only feel it, like, 20 minutes out of the whole day. And they don't understand, when you feel it for 10 to 12 hours a day, how much your body has to work. This year I want to start doing a lot of stuff different now 'cause, I mean, I had to when my brother died. If I don't change a lot of stuff in my life right now, I'm not going to make it past 40 'cause my brother - he didn't make it past 30.
HERSHER: Wilmer Vasquez was 29 years old when he died. He's survived by his mother, two brothers and his 3-year-old son. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News.
CHANG: And if you lost someone to extreme weather, NPR's climate desk wants to hear from you. Visit npr.org/deadyclimate.
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