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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, July 19, 2009

Hawaii boy, 4, found in car trunk dies


    By Michael Tsai
    Advertiser Staff Writer

     • Most deaths are accidental
    Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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    SAFETY TIPS

    Always keep outdoor containers such as the trunk of the car, cupboards, old appliances, old cars and garbage bins closed, locked and off-limits to children.

    Keep all rear fold-down seats of your vehicle closed and locked to prevent children from getting into the trunk.

    Consider getting your vehicle fitted with an internal trunk-release mechanism — just in case — and teach your children how to escape from a vehicle if they do accidentally get locked inside.

    Check on your children frequently while they're outside.

    If your children have been playing outside and you can't locate them, take a quick look first in all of the places they could get into — even if you're sure they aren't in there. In the summer, the insides of containers or vehicles (even with open windows or vents) can heat to dangerous levels in minutes.

    Source: Safer Child Inc.

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    A 4-year-old boy died yesterday afternoon after he was found in the trunk of a car on Ibis Avenue in Iroquois Point.

    The boy was apparently in the trunk for up to an hour, according to Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Earle Kealoha.

    Neighbors saw the boy riding his bicycle on the street outside the home earlier that morning.

    One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she was unaware that anything was wrong until the boy's grandfather came looking for the child around 1 p.m. More than an hour later, neighbors saw the boy's uncle carrying the child and pleading for anyone who knew CPR to help.

    The boy's family took him back into the house and performed CPR while a neighbor called 911.

    Firefighters arrived within five to 10 minutes and Emergency Medical Services personnel shortly after. EMS crews continued CPR for five minutes before taking the boy to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

    The car in which the boy was found, a brown Honda Civic, was outside the family home last night, its doors unlocked and one window partially lowered.

    Neighbors said the boy, known to them only as Brayden, frequently rode his bicycle with other young children in the neighborhood. They said he lived with his mother, grandparents and two uncles.