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Sad Day in Texas as 5yr Old Boy Dies When Left Alone in Hot Car

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A 5-year-old boy was found dead after being alone in a hot car outside a South Texas elementary school. This happened amid triple-digit temperatures on Thursday. A 911 call was reported on Thursday around 4 p.m. that a boy was found unresponsive, locked inside a car parked at Dr. Americo Paredes Elementary school’s parking lot. The school is located in the Rio Grande Valley community of Mission, a city of around 85,700 on the U.S-Mexico border near McAllen.

He was immediately rushed to the nurse by officials and medics. They attempted to revive him through CPR, but it was too late as he had already stopped breathing.

At a news conference Friday, the district Police Chief Raul Gonzalez mentioned that the temperature at the time was about 101 degrees with humidity of 105 degrees. 

He added, “The child was taken to the nurses office at the campus where they attempted CPR procedures, local medical personnel also arrived to assist but their efforts to resuscitate the child were unsuccessful.”

According to La Joya Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Gisela Saenz, the child was a student in the district and was a relative of a staff member. As per a national nonprofit called Kids and Cars, his death is recorded as the 19th case of a child dying from the hot sun in the United States just this year.

However, Saenz reassured parents and students that schools in the district were safe and this was an unfortunate isolated incident.

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She added, “I ask the community to keep the family, our students and our staff at Americo Paredes Elementary in their thoughts and their prayers as they navigate through this tragic event.”

The School District also mentioned that counseling services would be made available to students and staff at the elementary school.

Texas is the first state in America to record death by hot car, leading other states as it has recorded about 159 cases in two decades. 7300 cases have survived this sort of event, and over 1000 children have died in hot cars since 1990. A good number of the children who did not survive this unfortunate incident are toddlers younger than five, and about half of them were unintentionally left in the car by their guardians.

Janette Fennell, the Kids and Car Safety founder, and the president, said, “It is beyond heartbreaking. We are committed to the push for occupant detection technology in all cars immediately. As we continue our advocacy, children continue to die week after week.”

The Sheriff’s office wrote in a post on Facebook, “Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office Deputies made contact with the La Joya ISD Police Department who stated that a 5-year-old male was discovered in a vehicle, unconscious and not breathing. EMS arrived on scene and determined the child was deceased.”

The Sheriff’s office also added the incident is still under active investigation, so further information was not provided.