With the temperatures getting higher and higher, we should all have in mind the consequences of leaving young children and pets locked inside hot vehicles. Many adults believe that their children being left alone inside the car for a short period of time would do them no harm, but the reality is that it sometimes takes a moment for a tragedy to take place.
Back in 2019, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office got a call from a 4-year-old boy who told them that he and six other children were all alone inside a hot car. They boy said that they all had troubles breathing and were sweating. His voice was trembling and the officers could tell he was terrified and fearing for his life.
Charles County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating after authorities say seven toddlers from ages 2 to 4 years old were left in a hot car in a parking lot of the St. Charles Towne Center in Waldorf. https://t.co/Z4gjFmepZD
— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) May 10, 2019
Unfortunately, he was way too young to be able to tell where they were parked. The officers, however, managed to track the call down and arrived at the parking lot of the shopping center in Waldorf, Maryland just in time. The boy’s mother came some 10 minutes later and claimed that she was only gone for 20 minutes.
Two of the children, who were all aged 2 to 4, were her kids, and she was babysitting the rest. She was later charged with confinement of children inside a motor vehicle.
Luckily, no one was hurt. But this story should serve as an example that no child or pet should ever be left unattended inside a hot vehicle.
According to Injury Facts, the number of children who die of vehicular heatstroke is 38 per year on average.