Protect Your Children-In and Around Cars

Within the next 2 weeks Tucson will take a vote on the potential ordinance to have it a misdemeanor to leave a child unattended in a car. I for one have fought for this. The reason why is that we lack the education that this is not an ok practice for anyone to get into.
This write is full of thoughts and emotion, so bear with me during the read.
I started reading through comments to see where the community stood on this ordinance and it was a struggle to say the least not to write back in those comments sections. So I gave plenty of thought and in this write, on my terms, I will share my thoughts.
I admire all those who get it. Thank you!!!
For those who don't get it, I can only say that you will never know this pain and what it is like to live in our shoes. Nor experience what a first responder experiences when they can't bring these innocent children back to life, or to see them near death.
Proactivity saves lives. Reactivity does little to save anyone, it is just an afterthought.
Proactivity is just like not speeding in a school zone.
To be a parent who has this happen and to feel let down by a judicial system that you thought would protect your innocent child is devastating. My husband once described it as feeling like your heart is ripped out of your chest and ran through a shredder and then someone burned the peices that are left.
Many just think that leaving the child in a running car to get a pack of gum can cause no harm, but when their car is stolen while they were not paying attention, how would they feel? Did you ever see the clip of the child being thrown in car seat out of the moving car on a highway by the car theif?
When their child gets in the front and set the car in motion running over an innocent by stander, would the just ignore it?
What if their child tried to open the window and say hello to peoplenearby or get their attention and accidentally hit the power switch strangulating themselves, how would they as a parent feel?
These rules are set into play to protect the innocent and we as a society don't pay enough attention to children. Many think that others will solve the problems for them.
I spoke with a county procesutor who told me once that when an animal is left in a car that he got hundreds of letters of outcry from the community, but when a child is left in a car he has yet to get a single letter. To me that speaks volumes.
We need to do a better job protecting our kids. Bottom line! We need better education in our communities and when I read the comments of some of the community, I realized how badly the education is needed.
We all as a community need to own what happens to our children.

Stay tuned for more information on the City council meeting.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-08-06-hyperthermia-in-cars_N.htm

It was so special to be at the Governor's signing ceremony. VIP section and to top it all off sitting right next to her. I was so nervous and my heart was beating so fast.

Thanks to Mark Davis and Yvonne Geesey our attorneys as well as Mary and the rest of thier staff. They believed in supporting this to bring the attention to needed laws. We are grateful.

Representative Lee my hats off to you because you stood the test of time and supported this law over many years.

Mahalo to Governor Lingle and her incredible staff.

On June 13, 2008 a historical event in our lives was achieved. We were asked to be at the bill signing ceremony in honor of Aslyn. Unfortunately, Tim stayed behind to care for our dogs.
Thanks to all our friends who were there with me, if not physically, in spirit.
We were very relieved after years of this journey and submissions of testimony in support to be able to see some good come from our work.
I know that Aslyn had to be smiling down on us, cheering us on every time we made a step to help other children and families.
She is my inspiration.
I think back on conversations with friends after her death and one sticks out in my mind. Every time I think that I want to give up, it comes back to haunt me and pushes me onward and upward.
"How do you live with out her?"
The answer is simple. "You honor her life by making sure others know about her, and do what you can to make sure others don't go through what you have."
I live by those words every day.
You may never have known her, but you know of her through her story.
I hold true to the thought that her story will save other children.

A Mother’s Story
Aslyn Paige Ryan
February 1, 2003 – February 7, 2004
Aslyn was a beautiful and bright-eyed baby who celebrated her first birthday Feb. 1, 2004. She had a wonderful first luau on the beach with family and friends. She was full of so much joy, and such a happy baby. A few days later, she was playing in the kitchen with Daddy, before going to her sitter’s house. When I left for work she was tugging on his pant leg wanting him to read her favorite book about turtles. She finished her time with Daddy by watching her favorite show, the "Bear in the Big Blue House.”
Later that afternoon life as we knew it ended. A devastating phone call told us our daughter was having trouble breathing and an ambulance had been called to take her to the hospital. My husband rushed to the sitter’s house and rode in the ambulance to the children’s ER, while I came from work at a nearby hospital.
On arrival to the children's emergency room, things were much worse than the scenarios playing out in my mind. No parent, or medical professional for that matter, can ever be prepared to see a child near death. Doctors and nurses were struggling diligently to save her life. Asyln’s body temperature had reached 106 degrees. She had suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen after being left alone in a car on an 85 degree day. She was later transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. After two days of blood transfusions, tests and medications, our baby lost her fight.
We held our little angel in our arms as she died. As the shock of what happened hit us, we tried to cope with the loss of our little girl. Days turned to months and we still wondered how this could have happened. It felt as though we were in a nightmare that we wanted to wake from, but couldn't. Many people never recover from the loss of a child, especially when the death is completely avoidable. Our family’s mission in life has become one of trying to make sure other parents never feel the grief of losing a child from being left in a hot car. This journey of grief is one that nobody should have to take.
I have learned many things through this loss. Asyln made me a better person, just by being her mother. I learned that even in the shortest dash through life, one can leave a lasting legacy. She inspires everything her father and I do. In Aslyn’s honor, we continue to work to create educational programs and support legislation to protect children all over the nation.