WHITEHALL, Pa. — Imagine putting your child on the school bus in the morning, and then in the afternoon there’s no child, no school bus and no phone call. That is what happened to a local mom Monday night who had to pick her 3-year-old up from UPMC’s Children’s Hospital after he was left in a hot school van for hours.
The child’s mom, Zir Kam, said, “I (was) worried, you know. I’m crying, ‘What happened to my son? Is something wrong?’”
Kam said a million things were running through her head on Monday evening when her 3-year-old son Daniel did not return home from school.
Daniel, who has Down syndrome, attends summer programming on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Baldwin-Whitehall / Allegheny Intermediate Unit Preschool Early Intervention.
“I contacted my kid’s teacher, and she (confirmed) she had already put him on the bus at 3 o’clock,” said Kam.
This past Monday, mom put him in the school van and expected him to return at his normal time of 3:40 p.m., but after 4 p.m. with no Daniel, no school van and no calls, she began to panic.
The police were called, and after a search, officers found Daniel two hours later in the school van with the windows and doors all shut. He was still strapped into his safety belt and drenched in sweat.
“Two hours, one hour, and you cannot breathe in the car because it is too hot. The engine was stopped. I thought he may have died. I was upset,” said Kam.
Police said when they found the boy, they believe the temperature outside was around 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the district’s statement, the child had “mild dehydration” but was otherwise in good health.
We asked Kam had she ever had any issues with the school like this before, and she said, “No.”
“School is not a problem. The teacher is not a problem — just the bus driver,” said Kam.
According to the police complaint, 78-year-old Robert Lutty Jr. said he simply forgot the student was on the bus and did not perform the required check.
Channel 11 News stopped by his home this afternoon, but no one answered.
In the complaint, he told the officers there is no excuse for his actions. As for the family, they are simply happy Daniel is doing better and is now all smiles.
“I forgive him because people make mistakes in life,” said Biak Hnem, Daniel’s older sister.
In a statement, the Baldwin superintendent said they are reviewing the policy, but every bus should be checked at the end of the route. Lutty has been placed on leave as the investigation is ongoing.
Lutty was charged with endangering the welfare of children, which is a felony, and released from custody.
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