My kids were trapped in a hot car!!!!!
I put my purse and diaper back down in the car and since Aiden was fussy, I did what I normally don't do and put my keys down in the car too so he would stop pulling at them and I can just get the kids in the car quick and get on my way to the grocery. I let Hailey climb into her seat as I buckled Aiden into his. Then I went over to buckle Hailey in her seat. All the doors closed now, I walked around the back of the car, as I do every time I put the kids in the car and I heard the doors lock. I stopped in my tracks. No. No, no, no, no, nooooooo!! This can't be! I ran to all of the doors and pulled on them but the car is locked. The hatchback is locked. Everything is locked. My keys are in the car. My phone is in the car. I don't have a house phone. I don't have spare keys.
I tried to get Hailey to unlock her door but she couldn't. I found a neighbor across the street that came out of her garage as I was standing on the sidewalk wondering who to ask for help but still be in sight of my car. I didn't like being so far away from my kids, especially when they needed me. My neighbor let me use her phone to call my husband but since he was working and didn't recognize the phone number, he didn't answer. Okay... my car has OnStar. We don't have the service enabled right now but I figured with some $$ they could turn it on and unlock my car so I called them. They said no. They said to activate my account I would have to be inside the car and push a button. Oh my gosh.
OnStar said they will connect me to 911. What??! Is this really happening? OnStar told me to leave the phone with my neighbor and go comfort my kids. I played peek-a-boo with them like I do when getting gas to try and calm them down. I still tried to see if Hailey could unlock her door but she couldn't. My neighbor came over with 911 on the phone and they said that they were sending out the closest available help. He kept asking me if the kids were in distress and I said no. Eventually I could see through the tinted windows that Aiden's face was completely sweaty and he looked red. I asked 911 when help was going to be here and he said they were on their way but when I told him how Aiden looked, he said I need to break a window now. He sounded really serious and figuring that he is experienced at this, I needed to get more serious about the situation so I did what he said. I broke the front windshield under his direction and a neighbor with long arms came and reached through the glass to unlock the car door.
I got Hailey out of the car first since I was by her door. She seemed a little sweaty/hot but okay. I got Aiden out and he was completely red, screaming, and totally soaked as if I dunked him in hot water. He was very hot to touch. I know all the crying he did definitely worked up his body heat too. I immediately took his soaked onesie off and took Aiden and Hailey inside to cool them off. I put Aiden in the kitchen sink putting water on him and a wet hand towel. I was asking 911 when they are coming and he was still saying soon. Now keep in mind, it took several minutes to break the windshield. At this point I wasn't so calm anymore. It was taking what felt awfully long and I felt that I had been through a lot all by myself that I shouldn't have been. Finally after about 5 more minutes, the firetruck came. By that time everyone had cooled down well and calmed down. They were very nice and checked the kids out and we agreed that all was okay. Hailey even got a pink fire-man hat. :)
All in all, my kids were in the car over 20 minutes and 911 took minimum of 15 minutes to get here from the time that OnStar contacted them. I think the big problem with 911 was the transferring from OnStar took time and there is confusion as to who services our neighborhood. We live in Ocoee but Winter Garden is who came. Yet when my sister was leaving our neighborhood the other day, she saw a firetruck from an Apopka fire station here. (A very nice cop showed up 5 minutes after the firetruck left and said that he came as soon as he could, that he had to come from downtown). When I had to call 911 a few weeks ago for something, it took them a few minutes of transferring before they could put in the call to send someone out.
I praise God that my kids are safe and healthy, for my neighbors across the street, for the helpful man on 911 and the firemen and policeman that came to help. Everyone is well and my insurance fully covered the cost since it was my windshield that I broke.
The facts:
My kids were buckled in their seats with my keys in the front of the car so, they couldn't have hit the lock button.
There is absolutely NO lock all doors button in the back of the car. Only the manual lock on the door that locks only that door.
I have ran the scenario over and over and cannot get my car to automatically lock the way it did. Even acting as my daughter if she locked her door with her foot.
Lesson learned: Keep my keys with me and keep a spare key somewhere!!
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