Tragedies happen!
On September 20, 2022, what seemed to be an innocent trip to a convenience store, led to an argument between two men. The suspect later identified as Mr. Bolanle Fadairo, had an argument in a convenience store with another man named Michael Essien. Mr. Fadairo then pulled out a gun and shot Mr. Essien multiple times, then proceeded to steal his black SUV while not knowing little that Mr. Essien had left his 2-year-old son Micah in the backseat of the SUV. The call to the Houston Police (Texas) was called in at 1:45pm that day informing them of this incident. This was recorded at #31 hot car death for the year 2022.
At 6:36pm, Mr. Essien’s wife called in to the police of a missing person’s report, and the description which later matched to the stolen SUV that Mr. Fadairo drove off from the convenience store. That was also the first time Houston Police heard about a missing 2-year-old boy related to the incident. One hour later, Police found the abandoned SUV and attempted to rescue the 2-year-old boy, but little Micah had already perished due to the heat inside the SUV.
We have no way to rewind this incident to the point of encounter, and guessed if the 2-year-old boy could have survived if Mr. Essien had taken his son inside the convenience store. Yet, after this sad incident, we are left with questions wondering what if. We have covered in previous postings that leaving your little loved ones in the vehicle so take care of tasks that may have taken a few minutes, can be deadly. In this case, not only a mother had lost her long-time husband, but also her 2-year-old son. According to 2015-2019 hot car death cases, only 1% accounts for hot car deaths due to stolen vehicles. If you are a responsible parent, are you willing to take a 1% chance to risk your young toddler life?
We have also covered in a previous posting that the three hottest states within the continental United States are Texas, Florida and California. According to World Weather Service, records indicated that on September 22, 2022, the temperature soared to a high of 93 ̊ F (33.8 ̊ C) that day. Unfortunately, this recorded heat index also contributed to the demise for the 2-year-old Micah.
From the editor’s point of view, keeping my daughter in my line of sight at all times is my main priority, no matter what I do in my life. It is not only my responsibility to constantly think of all the unfortunate incidents which may happen to her if I did not. Never choose convenience over safety, because unfortunate incidents happen, you can never rewind and go back in time to do it over again. You will be constantly reminded of your actions, and always thinking what if……