Footage has surfaced online showing the dramatic moment that a mother-of-two rescued a two-year-old girl who was locked inside a car amid 100-degree heat.
Store manager Sarah Oropeza was at work on Saturday when a woman came running into her store, screaming for help having discovered a young girl stuck inside a roasting hot car.
Sarah ran outside to help, and was horrified by the scene before her. Speaking to local media, she recalled: “The windows were totally rolled up, all the doors were locked….She had pulled her hair back and sweat was just dripping.”
Despite her attempts, Sarah couldn’t manage to break into the car. In what was a team effort – and having tried to crack a window using a bystander’s screwdriver – Sarah eventually smashed the back window in using a tire iron from another concerned passer-by. The group then pulled the little girl from the vehicle.
Shortly after, an ambulance arrived on the scene and a police officer purchased nappies for the child. Emergency services deemed the child to be fine, and she was later picked up by her godmother.
Eventually, a couple – believed to be the child’s uncle and aunt – came looking for her; they are believed to have been in a nearby store when the incident occurred. The couple have since been charged with endangerment.
