It would be heart-wrenching to watch news about children suffering their demise due to neglect and abuse.

Yet, according to a 2019 survey, about 1,840 children passed away due to just that.

Thankfully, this child didn’t.
A retired police sergeant has been hailed a local hero after rescuing a four-month-old baby from a hot car.

What exactly happened?
According to former police sergeant Steve Eckel, it was a hot day, almost 120 degrees.

He was waiting for his daughters who were inside Kohl’s shopping when he and another woman in the area heard a baby crying.

The other Good Samaritan, a Howell resident, Sara Mazzone, came with Eckel to investigate.

Both were in shock as they saw a little baby girl bawling her eyes out crying, and screaming for help.

The baby was all alone in a locked car, sweating, and shaking; her face was already red.

His parental instincts kicked in.
He remembered he had a sledgehammer at the back of his car.

Eckel ran back to his car, grabbed the sledgehammer, and broke the car window on the other side.

“I almost started to cry, I got really emotional at that point,” he said in an interview with CBS News.

A father of six
Being a father of six himself, Eckel was furious about what happened.

Even if you’re not a parent, it would be obvious that you can’t leave a baby, or even a child, alone in a hot car.

In just a few minutes, even a grown adult would have a hard time breathing.

According to authorities, the mother, along with her two older kids, were inside Kohl’s shopping for over 40 minutes.