A desperate father smashed the windshield of his car to rescue his baby after accidentally locking the keys in the car on Wednesday — a day with a heat index topping 100 degrees.
Footage recorded by a bystander shows the father hitting the windshield with an unknown object in a parking lot outside of an HEB in Harlingen, Texas, while a crowd gathers around him offering support, Fox News Digital reported. One man is holding another instrument but stands back as the father makes progress. He creates a large enough opening for a woman to climb through the windshield, according to a bystander.The video then cuts to the baby being lifted out through the windshield.
The incident happened on Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. Authorities arrived on the scene after the baby was rescued and the baby was treated by EMS, KRGV reported. The parents will not face any charges.
STEC transportation director Rene Perez praised the parents’ for their quick thinking.
“When you have a child, particularly a child in a vehicle like that, 10 minutes is too long,” Perez said. “So you really want to make sure that the baby is doing well, and it’s best to have observations on the child just to make sure that they’re compensating properly for the stress that they just went through.”
It takes just ten minutes for a vehicle to heat up by 20 degrees, and a child’s body warms up three to five times faster than an adult’s, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Every year, approximately 40 kids die from being left in a hot car; half of those deaths are children under the age of two.
Earlier this month, two Florida parents were arrested after leaving their 18 month-old overnight in the car following a fourth of July party, Breitbart News reported. They found the child dead in the morning. Authorities tested the parents and found alcohol and marijuana in both of their systems; the father also tested positive for methamphetamine.