It started like any other day during the summer of 2022 in Boca Raton, Florida. Sara Dorsky and her husband came home from work and let their three kids go outside to play in the pool while they watched them.
“The next thing I know, I turned around and said, ‘Where is Dina?’ I heard the front door open, so I thought she ran outside,” recalled Dorsky. “We couldn’t find her for a minute or so, and then my husband found her in the pool. He called 911, and we went to our neighbor — a very close friend of mine who is a nurse practitioner.”
The nurse worked on two-year-old Dina until the medics arrived and rushed her to the hospital. The doctors tried to revive the little girl, but it was too late.
At the time, Dorsky was in her first trimester of pregnancy, expecting her fourth child. As an Orthodox woman she initially felt angry at God, and then she started talking with him.
“I was mad and I still am,” she said. “And at the same time, I was just confused. But when you are in the depth of darkness – and you hear it a lot since Oct. 7 – you feel more connected to God. I told him, please help me through this and the minute I opened myself to God, he did, and he had given me strength to push through.”
What also helped Dorsky was the community that surrounded her throughout her ordeal. Three of her closest friends stayed with her at the hospital, and her house was full of people all the time. Family flew in from across the U.S. and Israel. Her friends created a WhatsApp group to ensure that there would always be someone there for them. The kosher supermarket supplied food and gifts. It was an outpouring of support and love that anyone could ask for in times like this.
Then, one day while visiting her daughter’s grave, she met another grieving mother, Nechama Tauber. Nechama’s three-year-old son, Sholom, had tragically died just a few months after Dina. He had been left in a car after his father dropped off the older children at summer camp. Sholom was the eighth of nine children.
“That day my husband drove the kids to camp, and there was a little change in routine and schedule,” said Tauber. “The kids were so happy that they had gotten to camp a little earlier that day and went to play. My husband dropped them off and went to park his car when he got a call from his office upstairs. He works in the IT department of the school and they needed something urgent. He said, ‘I’ll take care of it,’ and got out of the car. Sholom was still buckled into his car seat in the back.”
At the end of the workday, Menachem Tauber went to pick up his son from his classroom. He expected him to run up happily as he always did, but to his surprise, the teacher said that Sholom hadn’t come to school that day.
“He called me frantically and thought that maybe I had picked him up,” Nechama said. “When I said I hadn’t, he ran to the car and found him there, but it was too late.”
Even now, three years later, it’s still difficult for Nechama to retell the story. At first, there was a lot of anger and confusion over why it happened, but the anger wasn’t directed at her husband; it was directed at God for “allowing” it to happen.
“I couldn’t blame my husband. I love him too much, and I know it could have been me. I felt deeply that this is God’s fault, His plan. I felt like He carried something for me, like God had said that Sholom had to die this way and it didn’t happen to me because I wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.”
A few months later, on Rosh Hashanah, Tauber wasn’t able to pray — she felt very betrayed by God. He had given her this precious little boy and then took him away. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, she took another approach and began praying, perhaps seeking answers as to why this tragedy had happened.
“I cried from the depth of my heart, and a lightbulb went on, and I said to God, ‘I believe You allowed this to happen, and now You are going to heal me.’”
The healing process is ongoing, and the pain of losing a child will never go away. But out of these unimaginable losses, something beautiful emerged — the two women who met at the cemetery decided to collaborate to help prevent similar heartache for other families.
It started with a phone call from Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky, who asked the Taubers if they would share their son’s story to channel their grief and create a movement that could prevent other families from experiencing similar tragedies.
“In the wake of our story, my husband Menachem and I have learned something tragic: hot car deaths are not rare occurrences. They’re happening right here in our communities — in the U.S. and in Israel,” she said. “People are getting distracted. The biggest thing parents can do is switch that mindset. Don’t close your eyes and say, ‘I love my kids so much, it won’t happen to me.’ Just be aware that these things do happen in our community because our minds can fail us.”
That’s how Team Protect began — with Tauber, Dorsky and a dedicated team of people who understood that these tragedies can be preventable through technology and awareness. They have partnered with emergency response organizations, schools, and communities to create comprehensive safety networks.
On their website, parents can find simple gadgets designed to prevent future tragedies. One is the CleverElly, a simple yet powerful device from another nonprofit that plays a verbal reminder each time a car’s engine shuts off, helping drivers develop the habit of checking the back seat before exiting. The best part: the reminders rotate among 10 different voices and phrases, keeping the warnings fresh and ensuring parents remain attentive. Another is Mylo, by Coral Smart Pool, an Israeli company that has developed one of the most advanced anti-drowning technologies on the market. This initiative has allowed dozens of families to access advanced safety equipment at a heavily reduced price, promoting safer environments for children.
Dorsky emphasized the importance of education and preventive measures. “There are many organizations that provide guidance on securing your pool, installing pool alarms, and advocating for swimming lessons,” she said. She also made sure her baby, born after the tragedy, was enrolled in swimming lessons.
Even though all her children are good swimmers, she and her husband made sure to fence the pool and use various safety devices to alert them if anything went wrong.
“Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five,” she said. “It can happen quickly and quietly, even with adults nearby. I have a friend who told me she was holding her daughter’s hand as they were getting into the pool, and her daughter still had to be pulled out.”
Tauber said that Sholom continues to inspire change. He is doing so through his parents and their “59 Seconds for Sholom” campaign – a global movement that can save countless lives. “His legacy guides us to slow down, to stay present, to cherish each moment and to consciously make space for peace in our lives,” said his loving mother.
To learn more visit: https://teamprotect.org/solutions/poolsafety/
