This article deals with an account of infant loss that could be triggering for some readers.
The mum of a one-year-old who died after being left in a car on a hot Sydney day said it was the “smallest misunderstanding” that led to the tragedy.
Jone Radaniva, 22 months, was found unresponsive inside a car at the front of a Chester Hill home on February 3, with temperatures outside reaching 35 degrees.
He had been in the car for at least two hours before his eight-year-old sister found him.
Paramedics were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Locals say the child’s mother, Samantha Rowlands, could be heard screaming when she returned home to find her son.
Rowlands told the Daily Mail her six children were in the care of her mother Valerie while she attended a football game.
After returning home from a trip out, their grandmother had asked Jone's sister to get him out of the car while another child took care Jone's twin Esala.
The children went to play outside with Rowlands' partner, so Valerie went inside to escape the heat.
"My daughter told me she thought Jone was in bed with my mum, and my mum thought he was out the back playing until my daughter came inside looking for him and they realised he was missing," Rowlands explained.
The family began searching for him and Rowlands said her daughter found him unresponsive in the car.
She said Jone's death had shattered her heart and torn her family apart.
Jone's twin Esala had not stopped asking where he was and his sister, who Rowlands' said always "played mummy" to him, was devastated.
She wanted to ensure others always cherished their children.
"Always make sure they are all safe - it takes a few seconds to make sure they are all out of the car and are safe. Nothing is more important. Not the groceries, not the phone calls, not your job - it's your child's life.
"What happened was a very tragic accident. I don’t blame anyone - what happened could happen to anyone."
Following Jone's death, an aunt told 9News she was heartbroken by his death.
"Sam is a good mum, she loves her kids… Heartbroken, I just can’t believe this has happened," she said.
His grandmother Valerie, who lives at the house, was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Jone's funeral costs as they are "struggling to survive day to day".
Police did not plan to place any charges.
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Top Comments
Birth control or sterilization for mom. She has too many children for here resources in life.
And the yuppie that backs over their only child with a 4WD? Sterilization for all that make a mistake is a way to decrease the number of child deaths.
If you are struggling to pay bills, then maybe having 6 kids isn't a good idea.
Kids don't exactly come with a returns policy.. and abortion is not cheap, either
I feel a bit sad that this is what you're taking away from this story. Are you saying that this child's death is a good thing because her family now have one less child to feed? Or that people should be means tested before having children?