Passengers on Speaker: 'I Wish He Hadn't Been So Selfish'
Andrew Speaker's fellow passengers are speaking out about his decision to fly.
June 2, 2007 — -- The passengers who flew alongside Andrew Speaker, the man carrying a drug-resistant and potentially fatal form of tuberculosis, are beginning to react to his actions and his apology.
When Speaker sat down for an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer, he attempted to quell the growing anger against him.
"I hope they understand [that] based on what I was told, [I] didn't think I was making that gamble," Speaker said.
But for some of the hundreds of passengers he may have exposed, his reasoning -- that he did not believe he was truly contagious -- and his apology are not enough.
While Caitlin Lindberg, a passenger on board Speaker's flight to Paris, feels compassion for Speaker, she is still angry with him.
"I appreciate his apology, but I wish he hadn't been so selfish in his actions to get on that plane and put so many people at risk," she said. "If somebody told me not to fly, I would not have gotten on a plane."
Jason Vik, another passenger on the same plane as Speaker, had a similar reaction initially.
"I want to know what was going through his mind, when he was coming back, why could he get back on the plane coming back, what was his reasoning that said, 'It's ok,'" Vik said.
Vik found out Friday that he tested negative for TB. While originally upset with Speaker, after he watched Speaker's interview with Sawyer his feelings softened.
"I guess I am starting to feel bad, the situation he is in," Vik said, "and looking at him, it's almost pitiful, and if he didn't really know about [it] before he left, I guess, it would be hard to be mad at a guy who looks like he is trying not to break down."
There were 310 Americans on the flights speaker took. So far, the CDC has been able to track down one-third of them. None have tested positive for tuberculosis so far, but the anger persists.
American health officials said that, given Speaker's otherwise good health and the small amount of bacteria in his lungs, it is unlikely anyone was infected, but they cannot be sure until they do follow-up tests in a couple of months.
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