Caught on camera: Kansas toddler rescued from hot car

MERRIAM, Kans.- A dramatic rescue of a child left in a hot car was caught on camera.

In cellphone video, you can hear and see the desperate attempts to break the car window.

Sarah Oropezaa, a local store manager, is credited with being the person who first sprung into action.

“It was just very, very emotional for all of us that were around,” said Oropeza.

The manager at Famous Footwear was ringing someone up when one of her workers ran inside screaming for help.

“The windows were totally rolled up, all the doors were locked, she was covered in sweat. When I looked in the window, she pulled her hair back and sweat was just drip, drip, drip,” said Oropeza. “I was just getting so mad that it wouldn’t break, and I was just praying, like, ‘break the window, she’s gonna die.'”

Oropeza says it took two to three minutes to even get a crack. Every whack at the window felt like an eternity for the mom of two trying to save the girl’s life.

“She was crying, and she was like, she was drenched in sweat,” said Oropeza, “and I just started crying.”

Tears only turned to anger, she says, as the couple supposedly caring for girl came inside the shoe store.

“No emotion at all, whatsoever. They sat there, and the only question they had for police is if insurance was going to pay to cover the window that we broke. That’s the only question that they asked the cops.”

A nurse who was luckily on the scene gave the two-year-old medical care. The child was later picked up by her grandmother.

Police ticketed the couple for child endangerment.