A mother left her one year old baby in a scorching hot car for two hours after she got sick at church. When paramedics arrive, they are stunned to see that the boy was still alive.
According to BPR,
A one year-old baby is lucky to be alive after being left in a car as temperatures soared in Utah.
The child is expected to recover after being taken to a hospital following more than two hours strapped in a vehicle sitting in the family’s driveway on Sunday, KSTU TV reported.
The mother of the child forgot the baby was with her after she left church early to go home because she was not feeling well, Lt. Lex Bell, Unified Police Department, said. Her husband and other children stayed behind at church and discovered the one year-old boy in the car upon returning home two and a half hours later.
Paramedics called to the house found the child lethargic with shallow breathing and, police say, his temperature had reached 105 degrees, which could lead to brain damage or even death according to KSTU. He was flown to the hospital where he was listed in critical condition and later upgraded to fair condition as he was expected to recover, police said.
“This car was 154 degrees inside, a few minutes after paramedics had opened the door and were doing their work on the child. So, probably was even higher than that,” Bell said.
The mother could have been charged with felony negligence, Bell said, but because of the nature of the accident, officers did not plan to cite the woman.
With Utah temperatures reaching blistering levels, Bell noted that everyone should take extra care before leaving vehicles in case a child or pet is left by accident. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got to think about, not even for a few minutes can you leave your child in the car unattended,” he said.
A car’s temperature can increase by 19 degrees in ten minutes, causing heatstroke, according to studies done by the Department of Earth & Climate Sciences. Children overheat three to five times faster than adults, KSTU reported.
While this may have been an extenuating circumstance, one would hope that no mother makes the mistake of leaving their baby in a hot car. Stories about people leaving their dogs in hot cars are all over but you rarely hear about this happening to children. What do you think? Does the fact that she was sick excuse the mother for her forgetfullness or is this unforgivable? Her childs life was put in danger and that is the bottom line.