Posted on 07/06/2007 10:39:20 AM PDT by teacherwoes
SPOKANE -- A baby found locked in a hot car in North Spokane Thursday night is recovering, but uninjured.
Employee spotted baby 'all wet, red, not crying' inside SUV An employee at the Grocery Outlet spotted the inside the sweltering SUV around 6:00 p.m. She advised the store to make an announcement over the intercom, advising customers there was a baby locked in a car.
The employee told KREM 2 News, "nobody came up for like, 10 minutes."
Employees confronted the woman when she finally spoke to them; they say she told them, "Oh my God, I forgot I had a baby."
The mother claims she had only been shopping for 15 minutes but her shopping cart was full of items and the woman had an empty baby carrier with her in the store.
Firefighters broke out the car window because the baby was sweating profusely. "She was all wet, she was red," said the employee who spotted the young girl. "She was really hot, she wasn't crying, she looked kind of weak."
The mother who left the baby in the car faces possible wreckless engangerment charges.
As a former infantry officer, I'd hardly consider myself a metro... and I'll be using a stick or a chunk o' metal. :)
From this article it would be hard to determine whether this woman might have been sleep deprived (under which condition it is not advisable to be driving in the first place), but I assume it is not the case. She left the child in the car while shopping, not after going to work following a night of restlessness and lack of sleep. She attempted to excuse her actions with the comment about forgetting about the child (despite having a child carrier in her possession in the store) and claimed that she was only in the store a short while before being confronted (despite the shopping cart being “full” according to the article). While I acknowledge that a parent might have mitigating circumstances (such as described in your situation), this does not appear to fall into that category. It is my opinion that she did not want to be “bothered” by having to remove the child from the car and take the child into the store (where the child would likey to awaken and demand more attention).
Most of us are creatures of habit. I have, numerous times, driven straight home because I forgot I needed to stop at the store, or gotten halfway to school before I remember I wasn't going to school.
I do understand, a little, the cases where someone is supposed to be altering their routine, but forget. My biggest problem is that I rarely went out without my kids. On the rare occasion that I did, at some point, I would suddenly look around in a panic, wondering where the child was. It only lasted a second or two, but that feeling...oh my.
I guess that there isn’t enough info to tell. I won’t judge her, because I don’t know. We all make mistakes, and I am just very glad that this baby was ok. Hopefully, she recognizes how lucky she is, and won’t make such an error again.
A 33 year old grandmother to a one year old?
In those types of temps, why was anyone bothering with a message on an intercom? Break the window and ask questions later.
Geez.
I always assume that Freepers would be the ones breaking their hands on a locked window in order to help others (if no rock or chunk of stone were around or they couldn’t get their foot up to the window).
Thanks for your service.
I understand what you are saying. However, it’s a mistake when we forget to pay the electric bill and have the power shut off. It’s life or death when a child is left in a car in the sweltering heat and not a “mistake”. I personally take a dim view when someone “forgets” about their child or grandchild being in their vehicle when the child’s life depends upon the person acting responsibly. In this case the child is lucky that someone spotted her before she suffered a heat stroke. What if this employee had not come along? If my belief is correct that she didn’t want to be bothered by taking the child out of the car, then I will judge her actions (and harshly).
As a former Army musician, I’m probably not a metro either, but I never thought I’d see the day I out-hardcored a Grunt (even if I *was* stationed at Drum; Climb to Glory!)
I know this from an embarrassing experience -- I locked my keys once in a rental car with the engine running.
Called police, they showed up in minutes and opened the window. Took about 30 seconds to open.
Of course no FReeper would wait around wringing hands, waiting for police if the baby in the car looked to be in immediate danger.
(And I'd be more worried about a baby who wasn't sweating than one who was. Dry skin in hot weather could be a sign of heat stroke. Time to break the window pronto in that case.)
Somebody needs to fire the Editor.
The mother of that baby needs a few days in an jail cell that is NOT air-conditioned. Maybe in the future, she'll remember she has a baby when she goes shopping with her.
If you have not yet gone to the link for the article I recommend that you do so. Within the article is a link to pictures from the incident, including pics from inside the store showing this woman’s shopping carts. In the shopping carts were items used for a baby (blankets, carrier, storage unit for diapers and other items, etc). This stongly suggests to me that she knew full well that she has a baby and that she likely knew the baby was in her SUV. Check out the link and let me know your view afterwards.
“She advised the store to make an announcement over the intercom, advising customers there was a baby locked in a car.
The employee told KREM 2 News, “nobody came up for like, 10 minutes.”
Employees confronted the woman when she finally spoke to them; they say she told them, “Oh my God, I forgot I had a baby.”
Interesting. We have two endangered babies, one the same day, regrettably one has died, the other barely rescued.
In the case of the dead child, the grandmother is promptly arrested, booked and charged, name and photo included. Did she ‘forget’ too?
In the second, an ‘uninjured yet recovering’ child was rescued, we have no name, only a photo of the back of the mother, photo of a cart full of items, no arrest, only the ‘possibility’ of charges being filed, and no information as to whether or not the child was taken away from the mother.
Why would a woman with a baby carrier NOT respond to an announcement. Why would a woman WAIT until confronted by store employees? “And when she spoke to them, THEY said she told them...blah, blah, blah.”
I excerpted the text above. If it alone isn’t a dead give away, I don’t know what is.
How sad.
Oh, know - I was just ribbin' you a bit.
You're absolutely right. Use something, ANYTHING...
Are you able to view the ‘uncut’ version of the video. I see that there is a link for it.
When I clicked on the video all I received was the audio.
In the uncut version....The woman interviewed said it was 30 to 45 minutes the child was left in the car and that it was TWO women who got out of that car, taking the baby seat with them, but not the baby, and that the both women just wanted to go back in and finish doing more shopping...just wanted to have this all over with.
I know exactly what you mean. The second of panic is very intense and leaves you feeling shaken. I rarely go out without my children and have had this happens as well. Its even kinda funny when I go out with my hubby on a date and I see it happen to him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.