Hear the Frantic Phone Call a Massachusetts Dad Made After Realizing He Left His Toddler in the Car

A Massachusetts father is breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight after averting a tragedy during his daily routine. After dropping his older child off at day care this morning, the father drove to his Boston-area train station, locked his car, and boarded a train. Thirty minutes later he realized he left his sleeping 1-year-old daughter in the car, rather than dropping her off at her in-home day care.

After a frantic call to 911, during which he gave the dispatcher the make and license plate of his SUV, the local police and fire department raced to the train parking lot, found and opened the car, and ensured that the tot was fine.

"We found the vehicle. We found the baby. We were able to open the car. The baby was fine," Capt. John Dougan of the Quincy Police said.

The father, obviously shaken from the incident, released a statement saying, "While this was one of the worst days of my life, we are also very fortunate it was a mild day, and I had come to my senses before too long."

He went on to say, "Like many parents, I have a very repetitive morning procedure that involves two day care dropoffs and a Red Line ride. The baby had fallen asleep in the child seat, and I went into autopilot. I had what I thought was a safeguard procedure against this in place that I neglected to use today. Obviously, we will be doing more to prevent this going forward."

Police say the father will not face charges for the incident.

Thirty-one children died of hyperthermia last Summer after mistakenly being left in cars on hot days. But this father should be thanking his lucky stars that temperatures were mild today.