Since my local readers are more news-savvy than I, they probably already know about this story, but I felt compelled to share it with the rest of you.
A couple of weeks ago a 4-year old boy in Pleasant Grove died of apparent heatstroke while on a day care center outing to the park. Coincidentally, the day care center was the same one where last year, an underage driver crashed a car through the center's storefront, severely injuring several children.
A few days ago we heard that the day care center owner had left the park during the outing to go to the bank, without informing the other workers she was leaving. We also learned that the owner has a past conviction for assault that would have kept her from being licensed as a daycare center worker if it had been discovered in her background check. The owner apparently submitted a false name and social security number for the background check.
Now, the Dallas Morning News is reporting on a police affidavit that states the boy in fact never left the center's van after they picked him up at home at 7 am and drove to the center. After his brother commented on his absence "sometime after lunch," day care workers found the boy, already dead, still inside the van in the center's parking lot. He then ended up at the park, which is where the day care center owner was when she called emergency services at 2:11 pm.
I won't comment on the horror of the criminality of the attempted cover-up, because that speaks for itself. Stories like this, however, always make me think about the inevitability and irreversibility of some of our actions. Take your eyes from the task at hand for one second, make one choice to go someplace you know you shouldn't be or do something you know you shouldn't do, say something in the heat of the moment without thinking, choose A instead of B, and none of it can be undone. Often, nothing remarkable comes of the incident. Occasionally, however, the consequences are devastating.
True, this boy's death was obviously the work of more than a second. In a hot car in 90+ degree temperatures, however, it was probably only the work of an hour or two. One hour of someone not being on their guard is all it took.
2 comments:
I did hear about this earlier, and I just couldn't fathom the outrage those parents must feel. I had the same thought that you did, as well, that just a little neglect can have enormous consequences. I think about this everytime I'm driving and there's a pedestrian nearby, or when there's a little kid within half a mile of a street with any amount of traffic. It's an incredibly frightening thing to think about on a regular basis--but undeniably important to do so.
And, excuse me, but if the woman could obtain a false name and social security number for the background check, what the [expletives barely contained] good does a background check do??? Is this not the reason that background checks are performed?
Amen, sister.
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