There are so many stories around, documenting how dangerous it can be to leave a child inside of a hot car, and the following footage has proven just how little time it takes for tragedy to occur.
Utah police officer Matt Woods has this week shared a video of himself rescuing an 18-month-old tot who had been accidentally locked into a hot car for 15 minutes.
The incident occurred on Monday, outside of the child’s grandmother’s house. According to Fox 13 News, the little girl’s six-year-old brother accidentally locked her into the car – with the keys inside.
When the child’s mother, Alma Zamarripa, discovered what had happened, she called the police. She then tried to get her little one to pull up the buttons and open the door, but the child was not able to.
Officer Woods arrived on the scene almost immediately, and offered Alma two options: she could either wait for his colleague to arrive with a special kit for breaking the car open, or he could smash the window open and rescue the child there and then.
Aware that the child was growing distressed inside of the car, Alma handed Officer Woods a hammer, and he smashed the window in – cutting his hand in the process.
While it was reportedly 78 degrees outside, it was around 100 degrees inside the car – and the tot had all the signs of dehydration.
“The child was screaming and crying. She was sweating profusely, she looked to the point where she was getting endangered there,” Officer Woods told Fox.
Paramedics were called, and the little girl was deemed to be fine after her frightening ordeal.
Thank heavens they acted when they did.
