Postal Worker Had Anthrax Fears Before Death

ByABC News
November 7, 2001, 9:55 PM

Nov. 7 -- Hours before he died from inhaled anthrax, a postal worker whose bosses and doctor told him he was safe called 911 to tell an operator he was worried and needed an ambulance.

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Thomas Morris Jr. worked at the Brentwood postal facility, which handled the anthrax-laced letter that was opened in Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office on Capitol Hill Oct. 15, prompting officials to immediately treat Senate staffers with antibiotics. Morris died inhalation anthrax on the evening of Oct. 21

Today, Maryland police released a transcript if Morris' call for help to a 911 operator that he made about 16 hours before his death.

"I suspect that I might have been exposed to anthrax," Morris said, his breathing noticeably labored. "It was last … Saturday — a week ago — last Saturday morning at work. I work for the postal service. I've been to the doctor, went to the doctor Thursday. He took a culture, but he never got back to me with the results. … Now, I'm having difficulty breathing and just to move any distance, I feel like I'm going to pass out."

Morris said he was near a woman at the Brentwood post office who found an envelope that contained powder. Morris said officials told the powder was not anthrax, but he complained that they never tested people who were in the vicinity for exposure, or treated them with antibiotics. He was concerned because he believed he was showing clear symptoms of an anthrax infection.

"The symptoms that I've had was described to me in a letter that they put out almost to the T, except that I haven't had any vomiting until just a few minutes ago," Morris said. "I'm not bleeding, and I don't have diarrhea, but the doctor thought it was just a virus or something. … So we went with that, and I was taking Tylenol for the achiness. But the shortness of breath now, I don't know — that's consistent with the, with the anthrax."