With the weather only getting hotter and hotter as climate change takes a firm hold of global temperatures, it becomes an increasingly pressing matter to keep an eye on your children, especially in the car.
As it stands, far too many young children die more often than necessary from being left in hot cars – this year alone already sees the death of 37 children from heat stroke this way.
There’s now yet another tragic death to the list – an 11-year-old girl from the Long Island community, who was forgotten on a 92-degrees Fahrenheit day in the car parked in her family’s own driveway.
It is unclear how much time elapsed before her presence was missed, but police believe she may have simply slept through the hustle and bustle of her mother and two siblings leaving the car after running errands.
As the mother reportedly believed all her children had exited the vehicle, it was only at 3:45pm EST did she then notice something was amiss and thought to check the back seat of her Ford Expedition.
Upon finding her daughter, who was already turning blue, the mother proceeded to call 911.
She was instructed by a dispatcher to bring the girl indoors and perform CPR, but unfortunately, by then, it was already too late.
This was an unsurprising situation, given 92 degrees temperatures and the 101 heat index of the day of the accident in addition to the heatwave much of New York was in the middle of enduring.
According to a chart posted on Twitter by a local meteorologist, it was likely that the temperatures inside the car had soared to a blistering 130 degrees.
The tragic scene of the accident was reported by ABC News to have brought the neighbours and even veteran police officers to distraught tears over the loss of such a young life.
While the investigating authorities have yet to release any additional information or identifying details regarding the family, the internet is still abuzz with speculation.
Many Twitter users are sceptical over how this incident could have occurred, arguing that an 11-year-old child was more than capable of helping herself out of the car at any given time.
The general consensus seems to be that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
An article released by The New York Post claims that the girl had special needs, and therefore was unable to get out of the vehicle by herself.
At the time of this writing, however, this claim has yet to be confirmed by the relevant authorities or the girl’s family.
Additionally, all related persons have declined to comment on this incident out of respect for the family.
Some neighbours have defended the mother, insisting that the parent was a highly-attentive mother and was “on her children like a hawk”.
When tragic accidents like these happen, it is easy to want to point fingers and blame the caretakers in charge before the full story comes out.
In this time of loss and grief, however, it is best to respect the space the affected family needs to grieve.
