News / National
Zim toddler dies after she was left alone in a family SUV
05 Jul 2013 at 13:46hrs | Views
Tsitsi Chitekedza spent Tuesday afternoon at a park splash pad, frolicking with her younger brother and older sister under a hot summer sun.
Her mother, Grace Vela, doesn't know how the three-year-old girl ended up inside a family SUV later that afternoon as temperatures outside climbed to 33 C.
"There's some pieces we're trying to still patch together," Vela, 30, said Wednesday from the family's home.
Police were called to the Parkridge Estates townhouse complex at 2908 116A Ave. at about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday after a report of a child in medical distress. Firefighters arrived at the scene and discovered the little girl inside one of the homes in the complex, family members trying to resuscitate her. Emergency medical services treated the girl at scene. She died later in hospital.
Vela said she performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on her daughter after she was found, and was confused when Tsitsi began to vomit an orange liquid.
"I didn't know what it is. And I later found out she had been given a Popsicle, an orange Popsicle ... and there it is on the counter, the rest of it," said Vela, speaking to the Journal shortly after police allowed the family back into their home Wednesday evening.
"So she definitely did get out of the car after swimming and she was definitely in the house. Why she left is the question, still."
Homicide detectives are investigating the death and an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Police couldn't say how long the girl was in the vehicle, but said any suspicious death is investigated.
"It's a horrible tragedy obviously for the family, it's very difficult for the first responders ... and it's just another tragic reminder, we don't want to keep saying things over and over again - but when it's sweltering hot outside, we need to make sure the kids are not anywhere near a vehicle," said Staff Sgt. Scott Jones at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Vela described her daughter as compassionate and kind, the type of person this world needed more of.
"She had that big soft cuddly nature to her and ... we don't have enough people like her. I always used to say that this world can use a lot more of Tsitsi," she said.
The family spent the Canada Day long weekend camping at Ol' MacDonalds Resort near Stettler, enjoying what would become some of their final days with Tsitsi.
"It was awesome. There's tons of pics of her smiling at the beach, just having a good time. She's got two ice cream cones in one picture. We just had a great time as a family, just the five of us," she said. "To go there and then come back to lose her ... we had an incredible last hurrah with her."
Vela says her little girl lived a full life in her three years, collecting stamps from all over the world in her passport, visiting Cuba, Chicago and Zimbabwe, where the family is from. She travelled with an aunt in 2011 to the landlocked country in southern Africa, where she celebrated her first birthday surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins.
"I don't think there was one relative she hadn't met. For everyone, she was such a joy," Vela said.
A strong faith in God is bringing the family together in their time of grief, she said.
"How do you move on? What decisions do you make differently? But I don't know if there are any you make differently because ... she lived a full life."
Her mother, Grace Vela, doesn't know how the three-year-old girl ended up inside a family SUV later that afternoon as temperatures outside climbed to 33 C.
"There's some pieces we're trying to still patch together," Vela, 30, said Wednesday from the family's home.
Police were called to the Parkridge Estates townhouse complex at 2908 116A Ave. at about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday after a report of a child in medical distress. Firefighters arrived at the scene and discovered the little girl inside one of the homes in the complex, family members trying to resuscitate her. Emergency medical services treated the girl at scene. She died later in hospital.
Vela said she performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on her daughter after she was found, and was confused when Tsitsi began to vomit an orange liquid.
"I didn't know what it is. And I later found out she had been given a Popsicle, an orange Popsicle ... and there it is on the counter, the rest of it," said Vela, speaking to the Journal shortly after police allowed the family back into their home Wednesday evening.
"So she definitely did get out of the car after swimming and she was definitely in the house. Why she left is the question, still."
Homicide detectives are investigating the death and an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Police couldn't say how long the girl was in the vehicle, but said any suspicious death is investigated.
"It's a horrible tragedy obviously for the family, it's very difficult for the first responders ... and it's just another tragic reminder, we don't want to keep saying things over and over again - but when it's sweltering hot outside, we need to make sure the kids are not anywhere near a vehicle," said Staff Sgt. Scott Jones at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Vela described her daughter as compassionate and kind, the type of person this world needed more of.
"She had that big soft cuddly nature to her and ... we don't have enough people like her. I always used to say that this world can use a lot more of Tsitsi," she said.
The family spent the Canada Day long weekend camping at Ol' MacDonalds Resort near Stettler, enjoying what would become some of their final days with Tsitsi.
"It was awesome. There's tons of pics of her smiling at the beach, just having a good time. She's got two ice cream cones in one picture. We just had a great time as a family, just the five of us," she said. "To go there and then come back to lose her ... we had an incredible last hurrah with her."
Vela says her little girl lived a full life in her three years, collecting stamps from all over the world in her passport, visiting Cuba, Chicago and Zimbabwe, where the family is from. She travelled with an aunt in 2011 to the landlocked country in southern Africa, where she celebrated her first birthday surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins.
"I don't think there was one relative she hadn't met. For everyone, she was such a joy," Vela said.
A strong faith in God is bringing the family together in their time of grief, she said.
"How do you move on? What decisions do you make differently? But I don't know if there are any you make differently because ... she lived a full life."
Source - calgaryherald
