Story By: Jana Tomovska, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A top surgeon and his cardiologist daughter were horrified when they realised a two-year-old boy rushed into emergency at their hospital was their own flesh and blood.

The incident happened after the youngster was forgotten for five hours in a hot car by the child’s father in Catania, an ancient port city on Sicily’s east coast, in Italy.

The absent-minded dad, 43, was expected to drop the child off at nursery school, but he forgot that the boy was in the back of the car, and drove straight to work, locking the car up with the sleeping boy still inside.

He only realised when the nursery school called to find out where the boy was five hours later, and after finding him unconscious, he rushed the boy to the hospital where local media reported the grandfather was among those who tried to save his life.

The mother of the boy is a cardiologist and the grandfather is a surgeon, and they tried for 37 minutes to save him and hope for a miracle but the doctors could not help but declare death by asphyxiation, reports said.

Police are investigating, but they said no punishment could be any worse than what the man now feels after the mistake.

The spokesman said: “He is a desperate man, destroyed, who cries constantly and cannot explain what happened.”

The Public Prosecutor of Catania confirmed that a manslaughter investigation was underway under deputy prosecutor Andrea Norzi.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.