Dallas -
For Michele Terry, there is no escaping the nightmare. "I still wake up and say this seriously can't be real". Terry's 6-month old daughter died in a hot truck after being left there, accidentally, by her father. "She was fine one minute and gone the next".
The Maypearl mother has only memories of Mika, the youngest of Michelle and her husband, Mikey's three daughters. Four years ago, while heading to a construction job in Ellis County, Mikey dropped his 3-year old daughter at daycare but forgot about Mika who was asleep in her car seat. "I don't understand how it happened", says Terry. "He can't tell you how because he was one of those people who wondered how other people forgot their kids in cars until this happened".
MORE: Tribute to Mika
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Terry says Mikey didn't usually drop the kids at daycare so he was off his routine, but because she had to work early he decided to take the kids. She says after hours of work and lunch, her husband realized he had left the baby in the backseat. "He was with his friend who had a 5-week old and then it hit him like a ton of bricks". It was four hours later and Mika was already dead.
It's a tragic loss that happens over and over in Texas. The state leads the nation in the number of children who have died trapped in hot cars. In the last decade, more than 40 children have died in hot cars. Experts say that most parents think they will never be the ones to make the fatal mistake.
"A lot of people feel like they love their kids too much for something like this to happen", says Kristen Beckworth, a health educator in the Injury Prevention Program at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. "We all have busy schedules and lives. It is easy to get distracted and forget especially if your child is sleeping in a rear-facing car seat in the backseat".
Terry says her husband is still coming to grips with his mistake. She says raising their two older daughters helps him cope with the loss of Mika. But she says while she never blamed him, he is finding it hard to forgive himself for a mistake that cost his daughter, her life. "He is just dealing with that grief and guilt every day and he will until the day he dies".
The Maypearl mother has only memories of Mika, the youngest of Michelle and her husband, Mikey's three daughters. Four years ago, while heading to a construction job in Ellis County, Mikey dropped his 3-year old daughter at daycare but forgot about Mika who was asleep in her car seat. "I don't understand how it happened", says Terry. "He can't tell you how because he was one of those people who wondered how other people forgot their kids in cars until this happened".
MORE: Tribute to Mika
MORE: Hot Car Safety Tips
MORE: Advice For Parents
Terry says Mikey didn't usually drop the kids at daycare so he was off his routine, but because she had to work early he decided to take the kids. She says after hours of work and lunch, her husband realized he had left the baby in the backseat. "He was with his friend who had a 5-week old and then it hit him like a ton of bricks". It was four hours later and Mika was already dead.
It's a tragic loss that happens over and over in Texas. The state leads the nation in the number of children who have died trapped in hot cars. In the last decade, more than 40 children have died in hot cars. Experts say that most parents think they will never be the ones to make the fatal mistake.
"A lot of people feel like they love their kids too much for something like this to happen", says Kristen Beckworth, a health educator in the Injury Prevention Program at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. "We all have busy schedules and lives. It is easy to get distracted and forget especially if your child is sleeping in a rear-facing car seat in the backseat".
Terry says her husband is still coming to grips with his mistake. She says raising their two older daughters helps him cope with the loss of Mika. But she says while she never blamed him, he is finding it hard to forgive himself for a mistake that cost his daughter, her life. "He is just dealing with that grief and guilt every day and he will until the day he dies".
