Florida Mom Hopes Others Will Learn From Her Ordeal After Accidentally Locking 10-Month-Old Daughter In Car

STUART (CBSMiami/CNN) – Ten-month-old Maddie is Christina Tuffords' first child, and her little sidekick.

Earlier this month, the pair took a trip to run errands at Lowes.

"I just took her on a little roll to Lowes to do some flower potting," said Tuffords.

Afterwards, Christina put Maddie in the car seat and used remote start to keep the car cool while she unloaded, but she also left the keys inside.

"All the doors locked and she was inside with the keys," said Tuffords.

Christina called police after calling OnStar, despite having an expired account.

"I'll do whatever it takes, I'll pay whatever amount of money it takes. Just please reactivate my service so you guys can unlock my car," she told OnStar that day.

But OnStar said it couldn't help.

Soon, Stuart Police officer Kyle Osinga arrived with a tow company to unlock the car door.

Unfortunately, their first efforts did not succeed in opening up the car. That's when this took an intense turn.

"And the kid is not okay anymore," said Officer Osinga. "The head is down [and] the eyes are closed. That's when the adrenaline [kicks in], that's when I start to freak out."

Officer Osinga began to beat the car window with a baton.

"There was a lot of panic involved," he said.

A patron in the parking lot saw what was going on and ran over with a window punch tool.

Maddie was safely removed from the vehicle and her mother is hoping that when other people hear their story, they'll learn the same lesson she did.

Tuffords now says she keeps a window punch tool in her purse at all times.

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