ROSE HILL, Kan. — A tired mother in Rose Hill, Kansas, needed a nap on Saturday after attending a morning baby shower.
When she got home around 12:30 p.m., she went directly inside to lie down, forgetting about her 3-month-old daughter in the car outside, according to news reports.
Four hours later, the 44-year-old woman remembered her baby inside the stifling car and found her unresponsive.
Emergency crews responded to the mother's call for help around 4:30 p.m., but the baby died at the scene, KAKE-TV reported.
In a hot car, a child’s body temperature can rise quickly to 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, which can lead to brain damage or death, @washingtonpost reports. Make sure children know that cars are not a play area - and never leave them alone in a car. https://t.co/9XJXX1MxAZ
— Amer Acad Pediatrics (@AmerAcadPeds) June 10, 2019
Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet called the death “a tragedy.”
"She had commented that she had been very tired. She'd been up some of the night before off and on. Don't know if it was with children or for what reason, but she felt like she needed a nap. She laid down about 12:30 p.m. and slept till about 4 o'clock," Herzet said, according to KAKE.
The family had six children, five of them adopted, between the ages of 3 months and 13 years old.
"It seems like a very good family, very well-natured, took very good care of their children. Like I said, it's been a very tragic event that's occurred there," the sheriff said.
The group KidsandCars.org said on its website that 52 children died in hot cars in 2018, and 11 have died so far this year.
The National Safety Council says an average of 38 kids die in hot cars a year in the U.S., but a record-number of 52 children were killed in 2018:https://t.co/tFHDPR0J3R
— KATU News (@KATUNews) June 11, 2019
PREVENT TRAGEDY: In 2018, 52 children lost their lives in hot cars – the most in at least 20 years! @samkerrigantv has all the information you need on preventing hot car deaths read it here https://t.co/GVwAVKgMyo pic.twitter.com/CQONjvtAaP
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) June 6, 2019
The weather is heating up, so here's your friendly reminder to *never* leave kids (or pets!) in a vehicle. Not for a quick errand. Not if the windows are rolled down. Never. Ever.
— MarylandResponds/OPR (@MarylandOPR) June 7, 2019
Watch this video for some quick tips to prevent hot car deaths: https://t.co/4Dzyqc5w0z pic.twitter.com/ITgtF4RTZO
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