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Every adult knows that young children should never be left alone, and now one mum has opened up about how she accidentally forgot her two-year-old daughter.
Britta Eberle, who lives in Vermont, explained that she never thought she'd forget her toddler, Ada, in a hot car, but it happened when she was rushing to a friend's farm on 2 July, 2017.
The mum explained that she, her husband and son were helping their family and friends to bring in food and other items when she made the assumption that someone would have brought in her young daughter.
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Taking to her parenting blog to explain how easily it was done, Eberle wrote: "In our excitement we all darted out, assuming that someone else had grabbed the youngest member of our clan."
The mum explained that it wasn't until 20 minutes had passed that she realised she'd forgotten her then two-year-old.
But before she had a chance to rush to her car, her sister brought her daughter, who was crying but unharmed, into the farm.
The guilty mother told TODAY Parents: "You go through all the what-ifs.
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"I didn't think I was capable of forgetting her like that."
Eberle explained that her sister said the youngster told her: "My mommy's coming to get me."
As reported by TODAY, the temperature that day in the area was in 60F which, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has the potential to heat the inside of a car to over 110F.
Eberle said that while she is ashamed of what happened, she is sharing her story to keep other parents mindful of how easily it was done.
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"There are no excuses for what I did," Eberle wrote. "And part of me doesn't want to share this.
"I don't want the world to know how badly I've failed. But then I think that I have to share this. I have to own up to my mistakes. I have to tell the world how far I am from perfect. And how if I did this, anyone could do this. And that scares me, but also makes me judge a little less and makes me pay attention a whole lot more."
The National Safety Council reports that 23 children died in hot cars in 2021 alone.
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"I've always felt so bad for those parents. Those (fatal) stories, there's always a slight change in plan," she said. "[The day I forgot Ada] it wasn't the way I normally think or act."
Emma Guinness