It’s every parents worst nightmare. And on Tuesday, it happened in real life for a University of Wisconsin-Stout faculty member.

Jennifer Astwood, an assistant professor in the art and design department, parked her car in Lot 29 near the Applied Arts building at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday. At 2:03 p.m., a custodian alerted Stout police that she saw an infant strapped in a car seat in the back seat of a locked 2000 Dodge Stratus.

According to the incident report, the car felt very cold and the outside temperature was 23 degrees. Dressed in a snow suit and wearing a hat, the 11-month-old infant was awake and looking around the vehicle, identified as belonging to Astwood.

Menomonie Fire and Rescue arrived just as a Stout police officer smashed out the front passenger window to rescue the child. Described in the report as “shaking and crying,” Astwood joined her daughter moments later in the ambulance.

She told Stout police that she usually drops her child off at day care in the morning. When she arrived at work, Astwood said she forgot her daughter was in the vehicle.

Emergency personnel said the infant appeared to be fine.

A social worker from Dunn County Human Services transported Astwood to Red Cedar Medical Center where the child was taken for further evaluation.

Hospital staff also agreed that the child would be fine.

The social worker told the Stout officer that she felt the baby would be best off with Astwood. The officer has sent his report to the Dunn County District Attorney’s office for review. As of Friday, no charges had been filed.

In a statement issued by UW-Stout, Director of Communications Doug Mell said, “I have spoken with Jennifer and she is distraught, sorry and at a loss for how this happened. She cares deeply about her child. She explained that Tuesday was the start of the academic semester for her, and she was out of her schedule.”

Story Courtesy: Chippewa.com