Wednesday “Wendy” Johnson was 51 years old when she died at Cape Fear Valley Hospital in June.
Family members said her death was heat-related and she began to feel weary on a hot day while working her job with the U.S. Postal Service. Johnson, who lived in Sanford, worked for the service for more than 20 years.
Her son, Deandre Johnson, said Wendy was riding in the back of a postal truck on a 95-degree day. Wendy worked as a supervisor and would sometimes help with deliveries. On this day, she began to have complications.
Postal workers said she was eventually found unconscious in the bathroom of a Fayetteville post office on Raeford Road. She was a supervisor at the post office on Southern Avenue.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the death as heat-related.
The vehicles used by the office do not have air conditioning. One postal worker who didn’t want to be on camera said they call the postal trucks “easy bake ovens.”
