He especially loves the sandbox: he can sit there for hours, building castles, digging holes, and playing with other children.

That day everything was as usual. We went to the yard, I sat on a bench with other mothers, and my son settled into the sandbox. I kept an eye on him from the corner of my eye while talking to a neighbor. His calmness always reassured me that everything would be fine.

But after a while, a piercing, wild scream rang out. I jumped. That scream couldn’t be mistaken for anything else — it was my son, and he was clearly screaming out of fear.