“I was really pressured to get to work. I was on my cell phone and it appears my mind went elsewhere. I simply forgot I was supposed to take my child to daycare. A tragedy occurred” stated the father of the child left in a vehicle on Wednesday for two hours.
“Generally, I begin work at 8:00am but I was running late, leaving my home at 8:20am,” the distraught father told police investigators.
The father, a 31-year-old social worker and his wife, 30, are residents of Kiryat Gat. They have two small children. Dad was running late and apparently forgot that he was supposed to drop his daughter off in daycare. Instead, he headed directly to work, parked his car, and went to his office. At about 11:00am, two hours later, his wife came to take the car as is their regular schedule. She saw their child of 12 months in the vehicle and quickly opened it, trying to wake her, without success. She grabbed the child and ran for assistance. She ran into the nearby MDA stations shouting for assistance.
Paramedics immediately began treating her and they headed for Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. The child arrived in a state of profound dehydration. She is breathing unassisted, listed in serious condition. Doctors explain it will be a number of days until they will know with absolute certainty if she sustained permanent brain damage.
One police investigator points out that tragically, if mom would not arrived at the vehicle at 11:00am, the father may not have realized the child was forgotten for hours, and then it surely would have been too late.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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7 Responses
How in the world can a father forget his child? It’s a terrible tragedy and I truly feel sorry fot this father who will have to live with it all his life. Hashem yeracheim oleinui.
A parent / guardian might forget that a kid is in the car if:
1. They aren’t usually the one to drop off the kid at the babysitter / daycare / school.
2. Are in a rush – late to work – as happened in this case.
3. There are a few kids in the car:
A. 1 child falls asleep
B. They fight to get out and one stays behind.
Some safety measures to prevent such a thing from happening:
1.Have something up front – like a baby bag, kids’ briefcase to remind you that they’re in the car.
2. Have something that you need to take in with you to work near the kid, eg. briefcase, hat, jacket etc.
3. Before leaving the car turn around to make sure it’s empty.
Parents / Guardians the summer is coming, a parked car can heat up to temperatures way over 100 degrees in just min.
what a tragedy. can yeshiva world news please post the name of this baby so that we can say tehillim for it.
it is a sad commentary that in today’s world so many 12 month old babies are in day care and not with their mother. many of these tragedies have occurred when a child was supposed to be dropped off where someone else is supposed to raise them.
#4 – thank you for pointing this out – I agree 100%. I know it’s hard and most families in Israel are a 2-income family, but for the benefit of the children, make a budget plan – and cut corners where necessary. A car, for example is very costly to have in Israel. The transit system works very well here. This would have never happened if the father took the bus!
FOREWARNING: Whoever posts a comment here should please not condemn nor put down the father of this child. The consequences of his actions are punishment enough. Imagine if R”L you would have mistakenly done the same to a child of yours… The last thing you need is the oilam to have contempt for you and to judge you. If anything, this man needs support from Klal Yisroel. I am sure he is punishing himself enough, and he has enough guilt to last him a lifetime. So before you post anything putting this man to shame, please remember the halachos of lashon hara, and have sympathy for him and his family rather than disguist.
#4 and #5 – i usually never post on websites – but i had to when i read your outrageous posts! how old fashioned and judgmental are you?! are you living in the past? how can you say that this happened because the mother worked? i found it insulting that #5 went out of his way to “find a solution” to this family’s “issue” by explaining that “A car, for example is very costly to have in Israel. The transit system works very well here. This would have never happened if the father took the bus!” who are you kidding? i am appalled at the ignorance and lack of rachmanus that you two display.