Writing in a post on her Facebook page, blogger Britta Eberle confesses that she ‘feels terrible’ after discovering that she had left her little girl, Ada, behind in the car.
The family had just arrived at a friend’s house, and they all bailed out of the car, forgetting little Ada behind. They realised 20 minutes later and rushed back to get her - saying they found their girl crying all alone.
While her daughter will probably not remember the incident, Britta says it’s a moment she will never forget.
‘It was such a small mistake but it could have had devastating consequences.’ she wrote.
Britta’s story is not unique, unfortunately. In fact, children being forgotten in cars is so common it’s referred to as ‘forgotten child syndrome’ and thousands of children are rescued from cars by emergency services in Australia every year.
While Britta’s accident had no terrible consequences, not all children are so lucky. Earlier this year, a devastated mum was convinced she had dropped her baby, Noah, at daycare, only to discover the baby had died in the hot car - forgotten for seven hours.
There are calls for Australia to increase the standards for car safety, which could include sensory technology to remind parents of the presence of children in cars.
