Unbelievable: Two Sydney parents charged with leaving kids in hot cars

Two parents in Sydney have been arrested and charged after allegedly deliberately leaving their children in hot cars.

A Sydney mother was charged after leaving her 15-month-old daughter in a car at Hurstville shopping centre and a two-year-boy was rescued after his dad left him in a vehicle at Yagoona while he went to the Hume Hotel for a drink.

The girl at Hurstville was assessed by ambulance workers and was given the all-clear.

Every year 5,000 children are rescued from hot cars in Australia according to KidsSafe Victoria. Image: Getty

Her 39-year-old mother was charged.

The boy in Yagoona was eventually by police and received treatment for dehydration.

His father was arrested and charged and had reportedly left another child home alone.

That a parent would make such a poor choice, well-aware of the risk of leaving a child in a hot car, simply defies belief.

What were they thinking?

Accidents happen, and nothing distresses me more than to hear of parents who have forgotten their children in cars, the results tragic.

Listen to the latest episode of Super Mums Mel and Kel and special guest Dr Jeremy Cumpston:

https://omny.fm/shows/9honey-super-mums/random-acts-of-kindness-let-the-kids-have-fun-and/embed?style=artwork

Deliberate acts, however, are different.

If we were to give these parents the benefit of the doubt, we could say maybe they thought they'd only be a couple of minutes and got held up.

But this is the very reason why it's so dangerous to leave kids unattended in cars in the first place.

You never know what is going to happen. Anything could happen to delay you, leaving vulnerable children to suffer the elements.

Perhaps they don't understand just how quickly a closed-up vehicle can heat up.

But this is hard to imagine.

Both parents have been charged over the near-tragedies. Image: Getty

We've all gotten into a car during a hot day and felt the heat inside before the air conditioning kicked in.

The only part of these two stories that offers any relief is the fact bystanders were the ones who rescued the children.

In Hurstville the child was noticed by several people who called the police.

In Yagoona it was a barber working nearby who noticed the distressed child in the car.

"He was crying, he had wet himself in the car, poor thing," Issa Khadem told 9News.

Still, it's upsetting that strangers took better care of these children than their own parents. 

Image: KidSafe

Thankfully both children have recovered from the experience and action has been taken against their neglectful parents.

We can only help they've learned their lesson.

Leaving children in cars unattended, even for a few minutes, can be fatal according to KidsSafe Victoria.

Even in mild weather the temperature inside a car can quickly rise above 40C, putting children at risk of heat stroke which can lead to a high fever, dehydration, seizures, stroke and death.

Not to mention how much suffering they would experience in the lead up to such a tragedy, alone in a car, scared, unable to understand what is happening to them.

Every year in Australia over 5,000 children are rescued after being noiced unattended in cars.

Related video: A mother in Bendigo was found not guilty of her child's hot car death

While we can't stop some parents from making such stupid decisions, we can certainly play our part.

If you ever notice a child unattended in a car call the police.

With the recent warmer weather, these two arrests won't be the last and with summer fast approaching, they serve as a timely warning about the dangers of leaving kids in cars.