Tulsa Firefighters Save Coweta Child After Mother Accidentally Locks Him In Car

A Coweta woman is thankful for firefighters after she accidentally locked her four-year-old son in a hot car with the keys inside.

Cortney Toumayan had just finished taking her son Paxton to the doctor and was trying to get him buckled in his car seat and leave.

She took her husband’s car, which she normally doesn’t drive, and locks differently from hers.

After she buckled Paxton in, she threw her purse with the keys inside in the car.

When she tried all the handles, they were all locked, with Paxton strapped in his car seat.

"He was red, his eyes were droopy, you know, like when your kids are outside, and they played really, really hard,” said Toumayan. “That's the appearance he had after four minutes."

Toumayan wasn’t sure what to do at first because her spare key was at home, miles away.

Image Provided By: Paxton Toumayan

She called 911.

She says when firefighters arrived, they helped her and Paxton stop panicking.

"They didn't treat him like ‘oh, he's just a small child, just work around him,”’ said Toumayan. “They actually talked him through and tried to explain what they were doing, which I'm sure helped him."

She says she’s glad the firefighters were so kind to Paxton.

And they even complimented Paxton’s new fire truck toy he’d gotten from a gift shop earlier that day.

"[The firefighter] said, 'Hey bud, I need you to reach through and try and open the door from your side,”’ said Toumayan. “So calm, trying to tell him, 'Hey I see your cool toys in there!"’

She estimates Paxton was in the car for about 20 minutes.

Toumayan says Paxton is fine now but he did ask why she was so upset.

"I'm just really, really sad that I locked you in the car and I could not get you out by myself,’” said Toumayan. “He told me that it was okay and he told me that it's time to be happy now."

She hopes other parents will learn from this and be cautious every time they put their kids in the car.

"Double, triple-check everything,” said Toumayan. “You can't be in a hurry when it comes to keeping your kids safe. If you're rushing, and you're just trying to make it through, hurry up and get them in, hurry up and get them buckled, we have to be somewhere. If you're a little bit late to something, it's okay."

Image Provided By: Cortney Toumayan