Olivia Burke
A three-year-old girl tragically died after being left inside a blistering hot car by her dad who forgot that she was strapped into her carseat.
Charlotte Jones was left inside the vehicle on the driveway of her family home in Arizona, US, for around three hours, according to her mother Angela, as temperatures soared above 98F (36C).
Dad Scott had dropped the couple's two other daughters off at school on the fateful morning before heading back home to start work from his own office - but forgot his little girl was in the backseat.
The couple had decided to keep Charlotte out of pre-school that week, but her father only realised his fatal mistake after his wife Angela rang him to check on them both hours later.
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Recalling the horrifying moment, the mum told Fox News: "All of a sudden I could just hear a panic in his voice.
"I initially thought she had gotten into the pool or something like that and then he was like: 'Oh, my God, I don't think I ever got her out of the car'.
"Then it hit him what has happening and he ran out into the driveway."
Her husband frantically called emergency services and Charlotte was rushed to a nearby hospital, but sadly, she passed away after succumbing to the blistering heat inside the car.
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Angela is urging other families to be vigilant and wants to warn others about the dangers of hot cars as we head into the summer months.
She paid tribute to her 'sassy' toddler who passed away in September 2019.
Angela added: "She was our sassy one, the funny one, always making funny faces, our little ham. She was just the light in our family, and we are constantly talking about her. We try to honour her memory."
Janette Fennell - the founder of Kids and Car Safety, a group that compiles data on child hot car deaths and advocates for better car safety standards - said Charlotte's story unfortunately isn't that uncommon.
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She explained that after crunching the numbers on these horror deaths since 1990, she has found that around 55 percent of child hot car deaths can be attributed to kids being unknowingly left in vehicles.
"In most cases, these are good parents," Fennell said. "In general, 90 percent of the incidents are good parents and they certainly would never even harm a hair on their [child’s] head."
The campaigner said the number of children passing away from vehicular heatstroke has continued to rise, whereas the amount of child front car seat deaths has dwindled due to car seats being banned in the front.
Kids and Car Safety recorded at least 1,083 hot car deaths between 1990 and 2023, with 29 deaths taking place last year and 36 in 2022.
According to Fennell, because all US states order that car seats have to be rear-facing, drivers are often unable to see their child in the back and may accidentally leave them behind.