A daycare centre has spoken out about the death of a one-year-old baby left in a hot car – and explained its policy to prevent other parents from making the same fatal mistake.
Olivia was found unresponsive in a vehicle outside Jelly Beings Early Learning Centre in Earlwood, in Sydney’s south-west, just after 5.30pm on Tuesday.
It’s understood the baby’s father Etienne Ancelet had arrived at the daycare to pick up his daughter, but was told she was never dropped off.
He ran back out to his car and discovered she was still strapped in her baby capsule.
Emilys Early Learning in Ipswich, Queensland, took to social media on Wednesday to call the incident ‘an absolute tragedy’.
‘RIP darling girl. I cannot imagine the unbearable pain of grieving the loss of your child,’ the centre said.
‘This is why I will ALWAYS contact parents by 10am if children have not been dropped off to daycare on their booked days. I wish this was universal across all providers.’
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Jelly Beings Early Learning Centre.
Olivia was found unresponsive in a car outside Jelly Beings Early Learning Centre in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood just after 5.30pm on Tuesday
Etienne Ancelet and his partner Kim are pictured with baby Olivia on her first birthday
There’s also no indication that Mr Ancelet will be held criminally responsible, as a police investigation continues and no charges have been laid.
Kidsafe WA chief executive Scott Phillips has previously said children being left alone in hot cars has become more common, with about 5,000 children rescued from locked cars across Australia each year.
The Earlwood incident is possibly a case of forgotten baby syndrome, a worldwide phenomenon that leads to the deaths of dozens of children every year.
According to researchers at the University of South Florida, more than 25 per cent of parents with children under 3 have forgotten that their child was in the car.
If the parent has a change in their routine, they may forget their errand as their brain goes into ‘autopilot’ while travelling a familiar route. Stress and sleep deprivation may also contribute.
‘There are brain imaging studies to show that when you do something out of habit, that can actually suppress your conscious cognitive memory system and so you lose awareness of your plan,’ explained University of South Florida professor David Diamond.
There has been an outpouring of sympathy for Mr Ancelet and his wife on social media. While some Aussies were critical of the apparent mistake, others insisted it was easy to forget children in the car.
‘There’s nothing that authorities could do to punish this parent more than what they’re currently and will be going through for the rest of their days,’ one comment said.
‘Needs an inquiry how to prevent this happening,’ said another.
Emilys Early Learning (pictured) in Ipswich, Queensland, took to social media on Wednesday to call the incident ‘an absolute tragedy’
Many new electric vehicles are fitted with detection systems that can sound an alarm if passengers are left locked in the car.
Some cars, such as BYD’s Dolphin model, even turn on air conditioning to ensure the passenger or pet left behind stays at a safe temperature.
Another new model, Volvo’s EX90, only allows the car to be locked if the interior radar system shows it is empty.
But some Aussies argue the technology has been too slow to roll out, and should have been in place to prevent baby Olivia’s death.
Mr Ancelet’s piercing screams could be heard as neighbours desperately tried to revive baby Olivia.
Paramedics arrived at the centre on Marana Rd five minutes later but despite their best efforts, she died at the scene.
‘I killed my daughter! Kill me! Kill me! F*** I can’t process this,’ Mr Ancelet was heard screaming as he sat in the back of the ambulance, before he was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Olivia had celebrated her first birthday just a few weeks ago. Posts by Mr Ancelet on social media show him as a proud and doting father.
NSW Police said they believed the little girl had been mistakenly left in the car for an ‘extended period of time’ as temperatures soared past 30C in Sydney.
They suspect the father only realised he hadn’t actually dropped her off at the childcare centre earlier in the day when when arrived to pick her up in the afternoon.
Detectives were seen arriving at the childcare centre on Wednesday as parents arrived to drop their kids off for the day.
The exact circumstances of what happened are still being investigated. No charges have been laid.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Emilys Early Learning for further comment.
