Preloading

How One Mom Made a Deadly Mistake

Aired on 10/01/2008 | CC tv-pg
For Brenda Slaby, an assistant principal and mother of two, the morning of August 23, 2007, was like any other back-to-school day. She was prepping for a staff meeting, picking up doughnuts for the teachers and planning to drop off her 2-year-old daughter, Cecilia, at daycare.

Near the end of the hectic day, as she was about to head home, one of her friends, a teacher, ran into the room with horrible news: Cecilia was still in the car. She had been sitting in 100-degree weather for eight hours—a mother's worst nightmare come true.

"I opened my car door, and I remember hearing the voices around me. Teachers who were close to me, screaming," Brenda said.

"I took her, and I knew she was gone. As soon as I picked her up, I knew. And I remember, I took her, and I ran through the parking lot with her, screaming her name."

Watch as Brenda looks back on the event that changed her life forever.

Original airdate: October 1, 2008

Find out how Brenda is doing today on Oprah: Where Are They Now?