Warning: This story may be distressing for some.

I umm’d and ahh’d about writing this blog but ultimately, I decided to write it. It’s not my usual kind of blog, but one that I felt I needed to write. You may have heard recently about a father who left his 3 year old in the back of his car for 6 hours not realising he was there. He said he was doing the usual morning routine, dropping his older child to school, then the younger one to daycare before returning home and working for 6 hours. It didn’t even occur to him that his younger child was still in the back of the car, and that he had forgotten to drop him off, until he returned to his car to pick up the kids. Unfortunately, it was too late for the young boy, and they were unable to save him despite their efforts.

So why do I want to write about this? That’s a good question. This father said his son, who was normally awake and chatty on his way to daycare, was asleep on this particular morning. He was quiet, and he just forgot that he was there. I will admit, that when I had heard stories like this before, I was rather judgemental, and didn’t understand how a parent could simply ‘forget’ they had a child in the car. But today, as I drove home from an appointment, Hope was quiet in the backseat, and for a few moments as I drove, I forgot she was there.  It was only a few moments, but it was a moment of realisation about how easy it is for us get lost in our thoughts, or in what’s coming ahead, and forget about the right now. Any judgement I had towards this father was gone in an instant, and I suddenly felt compassion for him.

I know some times when these things happen, they could have been avoided. When a parent has left a child in a car intentionally, or when a child is left on a bus; these things should not happen. But for this poor father, it really was accidental.

I don’t really want to say too much more about it, but I learnt a couple of lessons today. First, always double check the car and second, don’t judge so quickly.