Distressed relatives of the man who set off an international health scare by flying to Europe and back while infected with tuberculosis denied that he was reckless.
"We're in hell, and we want to get out of hell," said the man's father, Ted Speaker, in an interview with Andrew Speaker's parents and in-laws that aired today on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."
Family members said that Andrew Speaker, whose TB is drug-resistant, would never have traveled had he thought he was contagious.
"We are not people of reckless behavior, nor is Andrew," said Andrew's mother, Cheryl Speaker.
If he thought he was contagious, she said, "he would have been the first one not to go."
Ted Speaker said he taped a meeting in which a doctor said three times that his son was not contagious, though the doctors preferred that he not fly. The elder Speaker said he will release the tape at some point.
Although many people were outraged by Speaker's actions, his father didn't seemed worried when asked about possibly being served with a lawsuit over the case.
"If they want to serve me, go ahead," Ted Speaker said. "I am not at fault. My son is not at fault."
Speaker, 31, is now receiving treatment at a Denver hospital.
Before leaving last month for Europe for his wedding and honeymoon, Speaker said, he was advised by Fulton County, Ga., health authorities that he was not contagious nor was he a danger to anyone. Officials told him they would prefer he didn't fly, but no one ordered him not to, he said.
Speaker was in Europe when he learned that tests showed he had not just TB but an extremely drug-resistant strain known as XDR.
Despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight, he flew home for treatment, fearing he wouldn't survive if he didn't reach heath facilities in the U.S., he said.
The family said that a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official told them the only way for him to get back to America from Italy would be to hire a private plane.
But the parents said they are not rich and could not have easily afforded a private jet.
"We work hard," said Betsy Cooksey, a schoolteacher and mother of Andrew Speaker's new bride, Sarah. "We're not in careers that are high paying."
Speaker's father-in-law, Robert Cooksey, works for the CDC, where he specializes in tuberculosis and other bacteria.
"It's the height of irony," he said of the situation.
Source : travel.latimes.com
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