I FIRST SAW Andrea Abuege of Corona standing on the freeway overpass in Riverside meticulously weaving purple ribbons through the chain-link fence under the scorching midday sun.
The next day she was back and her message to those traversing the freeway below was complete: "NO KIDS LEFT IN CARS."
At the end of July, Abuege had opened her utility bill to find an insert on a purple piece of paper. On it she read the heartbreaking story of Kaitlyn Marie Russell, a 6-month-old baby who had been left in a van by a her sitter on a day when the mercury was topping the 100-degree mark.
On the insert she read of Kaitlyn's horrific, unnecessary death that occurred in less than 15 minutes due to the devastating effects of hyperthermia.
Abuege did not toss the purple insert, like so many people would. She and her two high school children, Cameron and Keilani, decided to take action. They called the founder of the organization 4 R Kids Sake and asked what they could do to help.
The group was founded by baby Kaitlyn's mother, Tammy Russell, and maternal grandmother Laura Petersen of Corona not long after the infant's death in 2000.
Devastated by their loss and haunted by the knowledge that Kaitlyn's death had been 100 percent preventable, Russell and Petersen vowed to do everything in their power to see that no other child would suffer Kaitlyn's fate.
Exactly one year after Kaitlyn's death, the first Purple Ribbon Month began in August 2001. By October 2001, then Gov. Gray Davis signed "Kaitlyn's Law" - the Unattended Child in a Motor Vehicle Act, which went into effect in January 2002.
The law makes it illegal to leave any child younger than 6 in an automobile without the supervision of an individual 12 years of age or older.
As a result of Russell and Petersen's efforts and determination, volunteers around the world have been tying purple ribbons to trees and poles and weaving their messages into fences every August since 2001.
The ribbons are meant to serve as gentle reminders to drivers to never leave their children unattended in vehicles - even with the windows slightly opened.
When the temperature outside reaches 95 degrees, the temperature inside a vehicle can hit an alarming 120 degrees to 140 degrees within as little as 10 minutes.
A child left in a car in intense heat will sweat, then suffer from extreme thirst, and then become overcome by fatigue. Next, their body will lose its ability to sweat, and as their body temperature rises, they start to suffer from acute dehydration.
At that point the child's liver, kidney and brain are so affected that they can suffer from a fatal seizure or stroke.
It is the thought of the needless end of precious young lives that motivates Andrea Abuege and her children to volunteer their time to tie endless yards of purple ribbon under the August sun. And if their efforts have prevented even one death from occurring, it will have been worth every second.
More information on 4 R Kids Sake can be found at www.4rkidssake.org.
Michelle Groh-Gordy is the owner of InterActive! Traffic School Online at www.trafficinteractive.com , and writes a syndicated weekly column on driving for the publications of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
