During the summer months, hot car deaths are unfortunately far too common. Already, a dozen children have died after being left in a hot vehicle this year. Many times, the victims are babies, toddlers, and quite young children, but one Long Island community was left reeling after a tragic death several years ago. An 11-year-old girl died after being forgotten in a car in her own driveway on a 92-degree day a few summers back.
More from CafeMom: Authorities Believe New Jersey Toddler Who Died in Hot Car Was Left Alone for Hours
The girl, whose name was not released at the time, was found unresponsive in her family's SUV.
It's unclear how long she was forgotten in the car, but police told ABC News they think she was simply left behind in the hustle and bustle after she, her mother, and two siblings returned from running errands.
The mom reportedly believed all of her children were out of the car, but around 3:45 p.m., the mom checked outside when she couldn't locate her daughter. She found the little girl unconscious and already turning blue in the backseat of her Ford Expedition.
The mom called 911 and a dispatcher instructed her to bring her daughter inside and perform CPR, but it was too late.
Much of New York was in the middle of a heat wave, so temperatures soared to 92 degrees on the day of the accident with a heat index of 101.
A local meteorologist posted a chart showing that temperatures inside the vehicle at the time of the accident could have been close to 130 degrees.
ABC News reported that the scene of the accident brought veteran police officers to tears and neighbors were distraught. "It's an 11-year-old girl, it's a baby," neighbor Tommy Score said. "She had the rest of her life ahead of her. That family has the rest of their lives ahead of them without her."
More from CafeMom: Tallahassee Mom Charged With Manslaughter After Son Dies in Hot Car
Police didn't name the family or release any additional info. Sadly, that didn't stop the speculation online.
Without knowing more details, some made accusations and rushed to blame the girl's mother for her death.
According to the New York Post, the girl was unable to get herself out of the car because she had special needs; however, at the time of this writing, that has not been confirmed by the police or by the girl's family. According to ABC News, everyone they spoke to declined to comment on the subject out of respect for the family.
Donna Heester, another of the family's neighbors, defended the girl's mother to the New York Post, saying, “She was a very attentive mother. She was on her children like a hawk — you wouldn’t find a better set of parents."
It's sad that anyone has to defend this girl's mother. Obviously, this was a heartbreaking situation and many the parenting community were left reeling. We like to believe that things like this could never happen to our children, especially at 11 years old. But this accident is a devastating reminder that it can happen at any time, to anyone.
