California Baby Dies in Bathtub When Left Alone

December 21, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

An 18-month-old baby girl died Friday evening after her mom left her alone for just a brief time. The tragedy occurred in Buena Park, California.

Sgt. Bill Kohanek told the reporters that the mother was bathing the baby Friday night in the family’s home when she became distracted and left the bathroom.

Paramedics were called to the home at 8:50 p.m. when the child was discovered submerged in water. The baby was taken to the local hospital where she was placed on life support. The baby girl was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

Police do not suspect foul play, but an autopsy will be performed.

The death of a child is an unspeakable tragedy. The trauma of the experience becomes even worse as law enforcement officials take care of the investigative tasks necessary for a thorough and complete investigation.

The compassion shown by those law enforcement officials — or a lack thereof — will remain with the family’s memories of the tragedy forever. Indeed, I believe that compassion can set the pace for the family’s healing from the tragedy.

When my own family endured the tragic loss of an infant several years ago, one of the police officers kindly suggested that someone call our family’s pastor. We were able to contact a nearby pastor who was able to arrive at my son’s home to provide support and comfort before I was able to get there.

This family has many difficult days ahead as they wait for the autopsy to be completed and then plan a funeral when they should have been celebrating the holiday and opening presents on Christmas morning. The pain will be fresh again when the autopsy results are finally received. 2010 will be likely be endured as they begin healing from their loss, but with the love and support of family and friends it will gradually turn to a celebration of the memories of their baby girl.