The family of a 15-month-old girl named Pressley Bartonek held a car show and blood drive to remember the toddler, who had died from an electrical shock received at a Wichita carnival.
It was on May 12, 2017 when the toddler girl was shocked when she came in contact with a metal fence that somehow became electrified at a carnival.
This carnival comes into Wichita during the month of May and usually sets up near Towne West Mall. Bartonek was rushed to the hospital, however, she died five days later.
The girls family wanted a way in which to remember the toddler, and decided on a car show because she liked to ride in her grandpa’s classic car. They also held a memorial blood drive because she received a blood transfusion in the hospital.
“We have the first ever Pressley Zeplin benefit car show,” Pat Babcock said while holding back tears.
There were numerous ways to donate to several organizations, such as the Ronald McDonald House, Wesley Children’s Hospital and the Mid-West Transplant Network, as well as information about organ donation.
Pressley’s organs have been donated, saving the lives of four other children.
“It’s really important that people know that if a tragedy like this happens to them, there are things they can help other people with,” Babcock said.
The American Red Cross was taking charge of the blood drive, arriving at the Textron Aviation Employee’s Club in their mobile blood drive vehicle.
“Giving blood is a really personal event and it really does make a difference,” said Michelle Jantz of the American Red Cross. “Blood that is donated can directly help someone that is in need.”
Toddler`s Plea To Go Outside May Have Saved Neighbors From Home Explosion
The Fohler family had been hanging out inside their home in unincorporated Gurnee on Friday evening when their 2.5-year-old boy started pleading to get outdoors. With cooler temps in the forecast, Ludek Fohler, the toddler’s father, decided to take a walk to a nearby park to “warm us up” instead of simply playing on the family’s backyard he’d just finished building the weekend before.
A little while later, the family felt the ground shake and saw a plume of smoke and flames go up in the air, the Daily Herald reports.
The home next door, at 36437 Streamwood Drive in unincorporated Gurnee, had exploded.
The family then rushed home while calling 911.
Their daughter, Tara, was in her upstairs bedroom at the time doing her homework. All of the ceilings on the second floor fell into the bedrooms, however Tara, and the family’s dog, was able to escape major injury, according to reports.
The blast could be felt six miles away and left one person dead in the home that exploded.
In total, six other homes were damaged by debris from the explosion. Prior to the explosion, several people in the neighborhood reported the smell of gas, the Daily Herald reports. The State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the explosion.
An autopsy is being conducted and Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper will use DNA or dental records to figure out the identity of the person killed in the explosion since the body was so badly burned, the Lake County-News Sun reports.