Ashley Papara was overcome with relief as firefighters rescued her sweating 2-year-old daughter from a hot car, after the girl was trapped for more than an hour yesterday.
Ms Papara said she and daughter Tilly were parked at the Mosgiel Warehouse in the early afternoon to get presents for another child’s birthday party.
"I put her in her car seat, but didn’t buckle her in at the time, and she had the car keys on her. So as I went to close the passenger’s door to walk around to the driver’s side, she had locked the car."
The worried mother and a nearby SPCA volunteer attempted to get the child to unlock the door.
"We probably looked like dorks."
Ms Papara became especially concerned when Tilly started opening bags and spraying perfume around the car.
"At one stage I got really worried, because she had these Mentos, opened them up, and shoved them all down her mouth."
It was hot inside the car and the girl was sweating a lot by the time she was rescued, not helped by her warm birthday outfit.
Ms Papara tried to get Tilly out for about 30 to 45 minutes before calling the fire brigade after realising she had no way of opening the car.
It took firefighters more than 30 minutes before they finally pried open the door, she said.
"By that time she was all sweaty. She was kind of relieved and jumped into the fire brigade’s arms."
Ms Papara wanted to thank the firefighters.
"They did a pretty awesome job and they were quite patient and understanding. It took them a while and they were joking about it, lightening the mood."
She and Tilly only briefly made an appearance at the birthday party, as the young girl was quite upset, she said.
Mosgiel Station Officer Phillip Derooy said one crew was sent to the incident.
"It was a little bit tricky to open the lock, but the child was obviously not too distressed so we took our time."
