No AC Leads to Woman's Death, Only $20 Needed to Fix

HOUSTON - On the heels of record heat, FOX 26 has learned of a 5th heat-related death in our area.

Regina Hammer, 55, collapsed in her home in the North Shore area at the end of July.

Neighbors say she was diabetic and living without air conditioning.

Studies have shown victims of heat often die alone behind locked doors and out of touch with family.

But in this case, neighbors say Hammer lived with her husband and adult daughter, went to church and was surrounded by families who now wish they could have helped.

Neighbors say they didn't know how badly Hammer and her family struggled until she died.

"Apparently their AC was out for two and a half months before she passed away and nobody knew. Nobody knew," said Bethany Cheshire, who lives next door.

Cheshire says Hammer and her husband were both on disability and her daughter had a part-time job.

She says their air conditioning unit fizzled out in May.

"They got a box fan and put it in the house. They got ice whenever they could," said Spencer Cheshire, Bethany's brother.

The AC unit remained idle until Hammer's death on July 24th.

"You know what made it go out? A lizard got in a compression box and fried it. One little part was it. One little part," said Bethany.

"They just thought they could pass the time until they got the money to do it," said Spencer.

"He (Hammer's husband) said he had a guy come out and told him it would cost him $10,000 to get the AC looked at which is ridiculous," said Bethany.

This week autopsy results revealed what neighbors already suspected, that Hammer's cause of death was heat-related.

At Ben Taub Hospital's emergency center doctors often treat patients suffering dehydration. Long term heat exhaustion is less common and much more dangerous.

"They lose their muscle mass. Their blood becomes thick. They can have a stroke or heart attack just by losing water overall over a long period of time," said Dr. Sameer Ali, assistant professor with Baylor College of Medicine.

"They (the family) never said anything to anybody. She'd come outside, and I'd wave and she'd wave. I'd ask how she was doing. She never said a word," said Bethany.

Cheshire wishes Hammer and her husband would have asked neighbors for help sooner.

"Probably three days after she passed away, a guy came out and charged him 20 bucks and he's had AC ever since," she said.

The family appears to have moved out. Cheshire says the house brings back too many painful memories of a cruel summer.

If you are living without AC, Dr. Ali recommends putting cold water or ice on your neck and under your arms, staying hydrated and trying to find a cool place to escape the heat as often as possible.

Shanice Nibbs, 17, died Aug. 13 from complications of hypothermia at Texas Children's Hospital.

Three other people in the Houston area were victims of heat-related deaths between May 29 and June 11. They were all in their 50s.