A father, who suffered from a heart condition, dies suddenly at home while caring for his two young children. Even worse, his 10-month-old daughter winds up trapped beneath his body for days.

However, the man's 5-year-old son managed to alert neighbors, saying he thought his father was dead. Authorities were called, and the baby was rescued — worse for wear, but alive and recovering. She is a small, sturdy survivor of what had to have been a horrible experience.

The children's mother was serving time in jail for a misdemeanor charge. Louisiana dad Jason Fields was only 43 when he passed away from cardiac arrest, somehow rolling over and onto the small child before his death. The home doesn't have air conditioning, and the temperature inside the home was around 100 degrees F — a bad combo anyway, but even worse when there has been a death. Authorities estimate that the baby remained there, trapped by her dad's decomposing body, for around three days before they rescued her.

She was dehydrated and had a blistering skin rash when she was discovered. She also sported an indentation in her forehead from being squished between the headboard and the body of her dad. But she was alive, breathing and responding, and is recovering in a hospital. Her mother was released from jail to care for her kids and to hopefully ease their trauma.

And trauma is what they both experienced. I can't imagine what the baby went through, wedged under her dead father and screaming for someone to help her. And I also can't imagine what the 5-year-old boy went through either. My youngest will be 5 in just a couple of months according to their mother, and I don't know how long it would take her to realize she had to reach out and get help if I died while I was caring for her alone (and she had no older siblings). She knows she's not allowed to go outside the house without permission, so it'd take a lot for her to muster up the strength to leave and get assistance.

I'm so glad the baby lived through three days of being trapped under her dad. This situation could have easily gone the other way, because three days without fluids is really pushing it — and the 5-year-old himself could have gotten into trouble roaming around without supervision. I hope the kids will be able to recover from their horrible experience.