Parents leaving their children in hot cars all day long has been in the news lately, but many are shocked by the statistic that 13, yes 13, children have died this year from being left in a hot car.
NBC News reported that there have been 400 children who have died from being left in a hot car in the past decade. That makes for 38 each year or about one every nine days.
Last year there were 44 deaths due to children being left in cars. Even if it is only 80 degrees outside during the day, the temperature of the inside of the vehicle can reach 120 in less than an hour.
Just in the past two months there have been three deaths: four-year-old Bella-Rose Lindstrom, two-year-old Alejandra Hernandez-Mendoza and this week another child died after her father left her inside of his truck.
Steven Lillie, the father of the child that died this week, told the 911 dispatch, “She’s been in the car for hours and I absolutely forgot about it.”
Prosecution has varied in each case, according to WSLS. Father Justin Ross Harris of Marietta, Ga., is currently being charged with murder, but has pleaded not guilty.
The National Safety Council and Safe Kids Worldwide have urged parents to leave something they need in the backseat like a cell phone or a briefcase. They have also recommended that you leave a diaper bag in the front seat as a visual reminder that their child is still in the car.
Richie Gray, South Carolina, says that he wants his story to serve as a reminder to parents. He’s been passing out pink elephant stickers for the car window so that parents always remember their child is in the car.
"There's a massive amount of guilt that you feel,” he said. “As the father, you're the protector, you know? You're daddy… It's an unimaginable loss."