Stranger breaks into hot car to rescue suffocating baby as careless mom continues shopping for another hour
Jenna Langston was horrified when she found a baby boy locked inside a car in the parking lot of a supermarket as the temparature soared over 31 C. Jenna forced open the boot and opened the doors from inside to be able to get the boy out.
Jenna had gone to buy groceries at an Asda on Thursday when she saw a security guard standing next to a car in the parking lot. She wondered if there was a dog trapped inside and was worried about its safety as there were no open windows to allow some fresh air into the car. She went inside and was busy picking up the food when the staff made an announcement reading the number plate of the car and asking the owner to contact security.
A few minutes later, there was another announcement and, this time, the staff announced that there was a baby inside the car.
Hearing that there was a baby locked inside the car, Jenna immediately rushed to rescue the toddler. "I dropped my shopping and ran over to the car. I said the baby needed to come out straight away - it was 31C," she told Birmingham Live.
"But the guard said they couldn't break in because it would be classed as breaking and entering. I said I didn't care and I was going to get the baby out." To this, the guard replied, "We can't help you do that. I could lose my job."
Jenna recalled that "all the doors were locked and none of the windows were open." She knew she had to rescue the baby and without wasting a second, she got right to it.
"I got myself into the boot and put my top half over the back seat. He was dripping with sweat - his babygrow looked like it had been through the washing machine," she said. "I opened the doors to let some air in and someone else asked if I wanted to sit in their car with the baby as it had air conditioning. Then the police and paramedics arrived."
She continued, "I handed the baby over to the ambulance crew. They said he seemed fine but they had to take him to hospital." Even after all this happened, the owner of the driver was nowhere to be found.
"There was still no sign of the car driver – it had been around 50 minutes by now," she said. "Then she appeared, walking slowly back to her car. I screamed at her and asked what she had been thinking. I was really distressed. But she just looked at the floor."
West Midlands Police said: "The parent of the baby have been spoken to and appropriate measures have been put in place to ensure the child is not at any risk."
According to CNN, more than 36 kids die in hot cars every year and July is usually the deadliest month.
While Jenna insists that the security guard did not provide any help, a spokesperson for Asda has said otherwise. In a statement made to Metro, the spokesperson said, "As soon as our colleagues were made aware of this incident, they called the emergency services and took advice on how to deal with the situation."
The statement continued, "Our security colleague and Ms. Langston worked together to get into the car safely and we are pleased that the baby is safe and well. We have investigated the incident with the store colleagues and reviewed the CCTV of the incident and there is no evidence to suggest our colleague made any comments about fearing for her job – and we would never reprimand a colleague for trying to do the right thing."