With all the benefits of the season (hello water play!), summer also comes with one dreaded component.
The unforgiving heat!
Sure, the sun feels inviting, and the weather begs for you to come outside, but it also has the ability to create a very serious threat to your children’s lives.
Every parent knows the feeling of the crushing heat wave that pours out the van doors on a hot summer afternoon.
It’s akin to opening the oven to pull out a pizza, where you wince from the uncomfortable heat pressing on your skin.
HeatKills.org reports on the shocking temperatures inside a parked vehicle during the warmer months:
“At 70 degrees on a sunny day, after a half hour, the temperature inside a car is 104 degrees. After an hour, it can reach 113 degrees.” “When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172.”
Every year, parents and caregivers leave children in their vehicles; leaving them to suffer the sweltering heat.
Some survive, but many of the little ones don’t.
Recently, one 4-year-old boy was among those senseless lives lost, as he was left in a SUV in Texas for nearly three hours, reports WFAA ABC 8.
When the unresponsive body was discovered, the core body temperature had already reached a staggering 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
The innocent child had nobody to comfort him before passing out, most likely screaming while he was strapped in his car seat unable to escape the torturous heat.
The mother, 38-year-old Lisa Neyland, was arrested for the heinous crime, but only faces a felony charge of “injury to a child”, ABC News reports.
The boy, Kaysen Neyland, was found inside the SUV that was parked right outside the family’s home in Providence Village.
When Kaysen was discovered he was shockingly still alive. The emergency response team had him airlifted to Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Despite doing everything they could, police reported that Kaysen died two days later from “heat-related injuries.”
Sadly, it wasn’t even the mother who found the child, it was his 11-year-old brother. The mother still didn’t even notice Kaysen wasn’t in the home.
Neyland told the police that she had thought only 30 minutes had passed since the rest of the family went inside without Kaysen.
The day started off full of excitement when the mother took the 11-year-old son, his friend, Kaysen, and his twin brother to the store to buy some candy.
The 11-year-old brother was allegedly sitting between the twins, according to ABC News.
Grabbing the one twin, the brother told his mother to grab Kaysen. But that apparently never happened. Neyland “assumed” all the kids were in the house ,but “never checked” to be certain they all were safe, the
warrant reports.
How do you go three hours and not know your 4-year-old is not in the home?
Most moms get suspicious of foul play when their kids are too quiet for 15 minutes!
After an autopsy, the cause of death was found to be “hyperthermia due to prolonged exposure to extreme heat,” according to the warrant.
In a deeply saddening statement, Aubrey police Chief Charles Kreidler said, “This tragic situation happens too often in Texas and across the country.”
Kreidler said “16 children have died of heat stroke from being left in hot cars this year across the country.”
Last year, the National Safety Council reported that 52 children had died from being in hot vehicles.
These tragic deaths were completely preventable. There are important tips to consider to ensure this doesn’t happen to another child.
Always leave something that prevents you from leaving the scene near your child’s car seat, such as the house keys, cell phone, or a purse.
Never underestimate the temperatures outside. As it was discussed earlier, a vehicle can reach over 100 degrees while it is only 70 degrees outside.
Summer should be full of fun memories, and endless play. Don’t let one senseless mistake ruin a lifetime of summer days.
Please let us know in the comments section what you think of Kaysen’s death, and if the mother should be charged with more than a felony.