Happy ending

It was all over the media for a 24-hour news cycle. A six-year-old girl described as autistic, epileptic and non-verbal, was found safe in Saskatchewan after being reported missing for 12 hours.

According to police, her mom left the car running when she zipped in to do a quick errand at a strip mall.

An alleged abductor jumped into the car and stole the vehicle with the little girl seated in the backseat.

An Amber Alert was issued with the description and licence plate of the vehicle and the story was picked up by news outlets across Western Canada ... not to mention hundreds of thousands of members of the social media community.

So, there was a huge cheer all across the country when it was announced Monday that the little girl was found.

She was immediately transported for medical attention. (She needs medication to treat her severe epilepsy.)

As usual, police provided no details on the circumstances of her discovery and whether an arrest was made.

Nevertheless, it was the happy ending we were all hoping for.

The lesson to be learned from someone else’s misfortune is obvious. Never leave your child in a car unattended.

For this young couple from North Battleford, it was a living nightmare.

We’ve all done it before, left a car running because we were only going to be away for a moment.

A quart of milk, dry cleaning or picking up a cheque from work can always wait when it comes to a child’s safety. Tragedy often happens within seconds. Fortunately, this one appears to have ended happily ever after.

—James Miller Valle Editor

Never leave your child in car unattended