Dad hopes to prevent other tragedies

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.

David Fish, the Clark County man whose infant son died after being forgotten inside his van, said he's ready to speak out if it means keeping others from repeating his tragic mistake.

"It was such a stupid thing on my part ... there's no way to make sense of it," Fish told the Sun in his first interview since the incident. "I can't really describe how painful this has been. No parent should ever go through what my wife and I are going through."

In June, Fish left his son, Hayden, in the family van. Hayden died after several hours alone in the hot van. Authorities called it a tragic accident.

Now, Fish, a government teacher at Centennial High School since 1993, is joining their new campaign aimed at reminding people not to leave their children alone in cars.

But D.J. Stutz, the PTA president, convinced him that lending his voice -- and his son's name -- to the campaign would make the message more powerful. Set to be launched at the end of the month, the campaign will be known as "Hope from Hayden."

"Maybe this is something positive that is coming out of Hayden's life, besides the seven months of love he gave me and my wife," Fish said Tuesday. "I just want to do the right thing instead of another wrong."

Hayden died June 6 after being left in his father's van outside the high school in northwest Las Vegas.

Exhausted from working at his second job, Fish said he mistakenly thought he had dropped his son at day care when he parked outside the school at 6:45 a.m. Fish drove to the day care center at 3:45 p.m. to pick up his older son Wyland, then 5. Upon arriving Fish discovered Hayden still in his rear car seat.

Fish, who also coaches volleyball and football at Centennial, said his family is still reeling from the devastating loss.

What has been surprising, Fish said, has been the level of public empathy.

"I thought people would see me as a monster, but it's been the opposite of that," Fish said. "People have been so unbelievably supportive."

Letters have come from parents across the country, sharing stories of both of other children who died and those who survived thanks to sheer luck, Fish said.

"Why our story ended in tragedy and some of theirs didn't, they couldn't answer that," Fish said.

The first anniversary of his son's death is nearly three months away but Fish said he is already dreading the day.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it, actually," Fish said.

After an investigation of Hayden's death Clark County District Attorney David Roger determined Fish did not intentionally leave his son in the van and therefore should not face criminal charges.

According to Nevada law, a parent or caregiver can only be held criminally responsible for a child's death if they willfully placed their child in harm's way. The law does not allow criminal charges to follow what is ultimately an accident, Roger said.

Roger said Tuesday his office was flooded with calls and letters after Hayden's death with many people calling for the Fish to face criminal charges.

"It's a tragic loss for the family and an emotional issue for the community," Roger said. "I think since last summer there's greater public awareness by the public that the law doesn't allow for prosecution in such cases."

Another Las Vegas child -- 2-year-old ShyAnn Raynor -- also died last summer after being forgotten in a hot car. Her mother did not face criminal charges after authorities determined the girl had not been intentionally left in the vehicle.

During the last legislative session a Senate bill that would have made it a misdemeanor to leave a child age 7 or younger alone in car failed to pass the Assembly.

Two other incidents of children left alone in cars last June resulted in criminal charges against the parents. A Las Vegas man who left his sleeping son in a running car outside a Starbucks on Durango Drive was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and sentenced to six months probation. A Las Vegas woman whose car was stolen outside a shoe store with her 16-month-old son inside was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

In both those cases the parents admitted to intentionally leaving their children in the cars for what were supposed to be quick errands.

At Centennial student volunteers have been cutting pink and blue ribbons which will be tied into bows and handed out by PTA groups throughout the district. Office Depot has also offered to distribute the ribbons at several stores, said D.J. Stutz, Nevada PTA president.

"It's so easy when we're all busy and distracted to forget things, even something like a child in a car," Stutz said. "We're hoping the ribbons will jog people's memories."

The PTA will kick off the campaign with a press conference March 31 in Las Vegas and a second event the following day in Reno, Stutz said.

Jeanne Cosgrove, executive director of Clark County Safe Kids Coalition, said the PTA's campaign will be a welcome addition to her group's efforts to educate the public.

"This is an ongoing crisis," said Cosgrove, a registered nurse who the injury prevention coordinator at Sunrise Children's Hospital. "So many people move here every month and they don't know what the intensity of our summer heat is. I'm impressed that (Fish) is willing to step up and help get the word out."

The temperature in a vehicle can climb one degree per minute above the outside temperature, Cosgrove said. That means on an 80-degree day the interior of a car can reach 100 degrees in just 20 minutes.

And heat isn't the only concern, Cosgrove said. Also last year a 16-month old boy was in his mother's car alone when a thief stole the vehicle from outside the store where she was shopping. There has also been an increase in "backovers," when a child left alone inside a car accidentally sets it into motion, in some cases running over another child or even an adult, Cosgrove said.

"The message is that it's never OK to leave a child unattended inside, or around, a vehicle," Cosgrove said.

Tim Szymanski, spokesman for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, said the agency averages about 350 calls a year where a child has been left alone in a vehicle. About every other year one of those calls ends with a child's death, Szymanski said.

Most of those situations involve children climbing inside vehicles without their parents knowing or car trunks or doors that have locked accidentally, Szymanski said.

The situation is serious enough that the agency is forming a new task force to tackle the situation, Szymanski said. A public service campaign is also in the works and could include billboards and signs in shopping malls reminding people of the dangers of leaving children or pets in cars.