SAN ANTONIO — The woman who took a viral video of three young children being rescued from a hot car in San Antonio is speaking out.
Investigators said the children's mom was shopping and they may have been in the vehicle without air conditioning for 50 minutes.
The woman said she took the video to raise awareness around the dangers of leaving your kids in a car alone, especially during the summer heat.
A mother herself, the woman wanted to remain anonymous but shared what she encountered Friday afternoon.
“A lot of parents think, 'Oh it's OK, I’ll be right back,' but so much can happen in that time frame,” she said.
It happened around 2 p.m. in the parking lot of a shopping center off U.S. 281. The woman said she was going to the store Once Upon A Child when she noticed a four-year-old boy in the vehicle next to her.
“I started walking towards the store, but I didn’t even get past my car,” she said. “I said 'You know what let me double check,' something inside of me you know, mother’s instincts, something’s off about that situation.”
She said she realized the vehicle was off and then she noticed a two-year-old girl in the back seat.
“Luckily I opened the front door, well I attempted to and luckily it was unlocked,” she said.
She said she ran inside the store to get help and have someone call 911.
“The boy, he was really sweating profusely, and you know, was crying,” she said. “It seemed like he was grasping for air to me, like they were already on that verge.”
As a group of people began getting the children out of the car, they discovered a one-month-old baby. She said soon after, the mother came out of the store and then police showed up.
“She had the keys with her, she said the car was on, she said, 'I left it on with my esposo, my esposo,'” she said.
Investigators said the children were in the car alone for nearly an hour. At that time of the day, it was 97 degrees outside. Safety experts say it does not take long for temperatures to rise inside a car without AC.
Fortunately, in this case, all three children are OK.
“I live across town, I hadn’t been there to that store I was going to in ten years,” she said. “I feel that God literally sent me over there for those kids.”
The mother, Angela Garza is facing three charges of abandoning/endangering a child. She has bonded out of jail.
“I pray that they get the help that they need and her too, that she learns from this,” the woman said.
Child Protective Services was made aware of the incident. A representative said the children were placed with family after they were checked out at a hospital.
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