Although Texas leads the nation in child heatstroke deaths, the state did go nearly 7 months into 2021 without a child dying from heatstroke in a vehicle. Sadly, that changed on July 16 when a 3-year-old child was found unresponsive in a vehicle in Tyler, becoming the first heatstroke death of the year in Texas and the ninth child heatstroke death for the nation in 2021. These deaths are totally preventable.
From 1998 through July 16, 2021, at least 892 children across the United States died from heatstroke when unattended in vehicles. These deaths happen to families of all socioeconomic levels.