So far, 2020 has been an unprecedented year, filled with panic, death, and more sadness than any of us could have expected. But the death of a boy in Texas this week had nothing to do with the virus that's currently sweeping the globe. Instead, the unnamed 4-year-old, who lived in Tomball with his family, reportedly died after he became locked inside a vehicle parked in his driveway — becoming the first hot car death on record for 2020, The Houston Chronicle reports.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says the boy is believed to have walked outside his home on Mimosa Spring Drive on Friday without anyone noticing.
He is thought to have escaped his parents' supervision around 3:30 p.m., and climbed inside the family car shortly after. Just how long the boy remained inside the car has not been shared, but what is known is that when an adult finally found him, he was unresponsive.
The 4-year-old was rushed to a nearby hospital soon after, but was unable to be saved.
More than 37 American children die in hot cars each year, according to experts.
Their deaths are always shocking, and undeniably heartbreaking. Many times, they happen after children slip out from under their parents' watchful eye, as was the case in Tomball. But other times, they happen after a forgetful parent simply forgets to drop them off or unload them from the car before heading inside their home or in to a day of work.
Such was the case last year, in a headline-making story from New York.
Juan Rodriguez, of Rockland County, was reportedly on his way to work last July, when he dropped off his toddler at a home in Westchester, but failed to bring his 1-year-old twins to day care. In fact, the babies were sleeping so quietly in the backseat, his mistake didn't occur to him for another eight hours. That was when his shift at a Bronx hospital ended, and he got back into his car to head home.
Upon noticing his twins in the back seat, each foaming at the mouth, the frantic father pulled over, but it was too late. Both were pronounced dead and Rodriguez was arrested, though charges were later dropped.
“I assumed I dropped them off at day care before I went to work,” Rodriguez reportedly told police at the scene. “I blanked out! My babies are dead! I killed my babies!”
Like so many small children left inside hot cars, the twins suffered a disturbing, painful death.
Most of these young victims die of vehicular heatstroke or hyperthermia, CNN reports, in scenarios that are quite easily every parent's worst nightmare.
According to NoHeatStroke.org, hot car deaths happen more often in the Lone Star State than in many others. In fact, from 1998 to 2015, Texas had the most hot car deaths of any other state, with 100. During that same time period, Florida had 72 deaths, California had 44, Arizona had 30, and North Carolina had 24.
2019 was the worst year on record for hot car deaths, with a reported 53 cases.
As a result, health officials are constantly reminding parents to remain on high alert, to avoid a similar tragedy from happening in their own life.
This is particularly important in the summer months, when temperatures outside begin to rise, and temperatures inside closed vehicles soar even higher.
Some experts have suggested parents develop memory "tricks," like placing their purse or cell phone in the back seat, so they are forced to check the back seat. Others are busily working on devices that parents can keep in their car to alert them if a child is still there.
As for the Tomball case, no one has been charged in connection with the child's death, though the story is still developing.
