A woman has died after being trapped in a hot car that broke down.
The woman, Megan Oxley, who was paralyzed from the waist down, was driving from Kennet, Missouri, with her young niece and nephew when the car ran out of gas.
Oxley was unable to get out of the car and died after the temperature in the car soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Oxley’s sister, Amber Jones, contacted the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Department after hearing from Oxley or her child for several hours.
“I just assumed she might have stayed with someone or someone might have come to get her but no one was able to find her and the next morning we were so panicked we called the police and got them involved,” Jones told local news Taiwan KAIT.
Oxley’s niece and nephew got out of the car and tried to help Oxley climb out, but because Oxley was paralyzed and they were young, she was unable to get out.
Hot weather can be incredibly deadly, killing more people than the average U.S. dies from hurricanes, tornadoes and floods each year combined.
It is especially deadly inside a car, where temperatures can soar rapidly. The interior of a vehicle parked in 70-degree weather can reach 100 degrees in just 20 minutes, and 140 degrees in less than an hour on a hot day.
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The body may become dehydrated and go into heat exhaustion, which can lead to excessive sweating, headaches, and increased heart rate
“This can develop into heat stroke, where you lose consciousness, similar to a stroke, with slurred speech, confusion, restlessness, hallucinations, and a general altered mental status,” said St. John’s Baptist Medical System emergency department medical director. John Tully said.Antonio Texas has previously stated Weekly newspaper. “This is usually when the core temperature exceeds around 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Patients can experience muscle twitches, seizures, and it becomes a life-threatening emergency.”
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), up to 10 percent of people with heat stroke will die.
The children have been taken to hospital for treatment and are in good condition.
“I’m so grateful, I’m glad she’s alive. I’m terrified, very terrified,” Jones said of her daughter, who was one of the children in the car.
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According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), children are more prone to heat stroke than adults because their body temperature rises three to five times faster than adults.
Over the past 25 years, more than 950 children have died from heat stroke after being left or trapped in hot cars, including 33 deaths in 2022.
Jones said she was devastated by the loss of her sister.
“When I last saw her, she was so happy, she was smiling and talking to me. She had so much energy,” she said.
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