Medical professionals say it happens more often than you may think and it's usually when parents change their routine. It happened to a Fresno pastor, his daughter survived but many do not.
Little Abby is talkative, playful and energetic- like many toddlers her age. But when she was just eight-months-old, her father made a mistake that is often fatal. He accidentally left her in the family's minivan parked in the sun.
"It was 100 degrees at that moment," said Will Stoll. "When we got her out it was about 4 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon in late August."
He realized after his wife called him to check on Abby. Stoll was sure there was no way his baby girl could still be alive.
Stoll said, "I can't even describe as a father what that's like, to just think life is over for everybody."
His wife Katie rushed to the home where Will parked his car before leaving with a friend to pick up an RV. The family was getting ready for a camping trip when he forgot Abby was sleeping in the backseat. The windows were rolled up. Abby was beet red, likely close to having a heat stroke.
"The truth is, all of us are broken, frail people, we make mistakes," said Stoll. "In this case for some reason, god chose to do a miracle."
Last weekend, a 15-month-old who was left in the car died in Southwest Fresno. Police say the child's mother had returned home from the grocery store and forgot the baby boy inside.
Children's Hospital demonstrated just how hot a car can get during the summer. It was 60 degrees hotter than the temperature outside.
Registered Nurse Carlos Flores said, "Heat stroke also happens with children because their body temperature actually rises three to four times faster than it does an adult."
Everyday Abby's presence reminds him of what happened that scorching summer day.
Stoll said, "It was the worst day of our lives and then the best day."
