Father’s ‘Hot Car Challenge’: Dad Films Himself In Hot Car To Show What Children Go Through When Forgotten [Video]

A father’s “hot car challenge” is gaining traction in headlines since his video on YouTube went viral. Terry Bartley of Greensboro, North Carolina was motivated to record a video of himself in a hot vehicle after learning of the horrific case involving the death of 22-month-old Cooper Harris after he sat inside a hot, parked car for nine hours.

The YouTube video was picked up by ABC News and has well over 1.2 million views now. It was posted on June 20th.

Boys and girls are left in hot cars all too often every summer. The same is true for dogs. Bartley shows just what innocent children must endure when they’re left in a hot vehicle baking in the unforgiving sun. The North Carolina father’s act to raise awareness for protecting kids from this type of tragedy is making quite an impact.

Bartley filmed himself tolerating the unbearable conditions inside his car as he sweat and could hardly breathe on a 90-degree day. He wanted people to see what children feel like when they’re forgotten about in the back seat.

The brave dad who took part in the “hot car challenge” tells ABC News Sunday:

“… The first ten minutes when I was in the car was just trying to get a glimpse of what it felt like for a child to sit in a car.”

Terry describes the tortuous state he found himself in while inside the sweltering vehicle:

“I was losing air, it was like I was sitting in a microwave cooking. I could have easily took my shirt and wiped my face and wringed it out.”

This caring man says he wants to “raise awareness for parents to stop leaving their kids in the car unattended.”

He’s blown away at how much attention the video is getting. He tells ABC:

“I was shocked. I made a video and I didn’t expect that it would get this kind of attention it did. It kind of blew up out of nowhere.”

Bartley asserts that even if the car was running with the air condition on, he’d never leave his kids in the car. He says:

‘They would get out of the car and come with me or I ain’t gonna stop at all. This is wrong.”

Daily Mail includes what San Francisco State University’s Department of Earth & Climate Studies has determined in regards to child deaths in hot cars. So far this year, 17 children have died from heatstroke.

On average, about 38 children are killed each year under these circumstances.

How many parents are willing to take this father’s “hot car challenge”?

[Image via ABC News]