On Friday afternoon in Leuven, local police rescued a sleeping toddler from a car parked in the full sun, who was found to be slightly overheated but did not require hospitalisation.
A concerned passer-by alerted the police shortly before 17:00, spotting the parked car in Minckelerstraat with a young boy asleep in a child seat on the backseat.
The witness had already hung a towel over one of the car windows to shield the child from the heat.
“Camera footage revealed the car had been stationary for about an hour,” stated police spokesperson Marc Vranckx. “Officers managed to wake the child by tapping on the window. Considering the heat, the dried saliva around the child’s mouth, and the boy’s inability to open the car door, a towing service was called to open the vehicle. An ambulance was also requested.”
The four-year-old was examined by medical staff and was slightly overheated. He was given water to cool down and did not need to go to the hospital.
“The boy’s mother, who arrived in the meantime, was instructed to ensure her son drank plenty of water in the coming hour,” the spokesperson continued. “She had gone shopping, leaving her son in the car, unaware that the sun would rapidly increase the car’s temperature. After being briefed by the paramedics who examined her child, she realised that the situation could have ended much worse.”
