Jeffrey Hyres

Jeffrey with his cat, Biscuit

Jeffrey Dale Hyres
30 May 1964 - 23 Jul 2000

Clubs & Associations

Puddletown Squares

Quick Facts

• born in Orlando, FL

In Their Own Words

Seattle nurse gets HIV from needle
by David Foster
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) — A file clerk wanted to know which bathroom he used, so she could use another. A supervisor didn't want his condition discussed at the office — it might jeopardize your career, she told him.

But Jeffrey Hyres is still talking. He is a nurse, he has the AIDS virus, and he believe that he, like Magic Johnson, has a job to do: helping to bridge a chasm of ignorance about AIDS that runs deep, even in the medical field.

"There are a lot of people, health people, who aren't as careful as they should be," he said. "They have this attitude of 'It can't happen to me.' It can. And it did."

It happened to Hyres, 27, in March. He was drawing blood from an HIV-positive patient at the Seattle clinic where he works as a licensed practical nurse. The needle slipped, Hyres grabbed for it, and the point pierced his gloved hand.

When an HIV test came up positive, Hyres was numb. He pushed aside initial thoughts of suicide, but was plagued by other questions, chief among them: Should I quit nursing?

Honest talks with family and friends, doctors and members of his HIV support group helped him find answers.

Doctors said he was no risk to patients if he didn't do invasive procedures that might exchange body fluids. But not everyone was supportive. Two co-workers asked that he not eat lunch in the break room. And he says his employers are nervous.

Hyres' case already has made a difference. Colleagues are more careful about avoiding exposure. That hospital that runs his clinic has expanded a manual for handling needle-stickings from three pages to 12, and instructions are posted prominently. But for Hyres, it's too little, too late.

"I wish there were instructions everywhere before I got stuck," he said, "because now I'm out of luck."

Memorial Panel

• 3LL | Puddletown Squares
  

Photos

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  Lake Gibson High (Lakeland, FL) yearbook portrait, 1982

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  Jeffrey with his cat, Biscuit

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