RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — In 2014, a Ridgefield father accidentally left his son in a hot car, leading to tragedy. His wife is now speaking-out.

“The morning of July 7 was very hectic for our family, which is common in hot car tragedies like this,” said Lindsey Rogers-Seitz, recalling the devastating event that changed her family’s life forever.

Husband Kyle left the house to take their 15-month-old son to daycare, but, that never happened.

“He obviously inadvertently forgot to turn left like he typically does, then, went into town where he went to get coffee like he does everyday, and then drove to work,” she says. “The daycare actually called me and asked, ‘How is Ben?’ And I responded, ‘What do you mean?’ and they said, ‘He was never dropped off.'”

Ben died after being left in the hot car.

Kyle was criminally charged and the Seitz’s went through a traumatic time, not sure they could recover as a couple.

“I had my own issues to struggle through, like could I continue to love him? Could we have a new love?” Rogers-Seitz said.

But they committed to keeping their family, including two daughters, together.

And now, Rogers-Seitz is releasing a memoir called “The Gift of Ben: Loving through Imperfection.” It’s about grief, healing and moving forward.

“To find meaning in my life, I’m trying to use Ben’s voice and his love to really turn this into a message of hope and share some human issues like forgiveness and love to other people,” she says.

Seitz worked for legislation to be passed in 2021 to require manufacturers to include reminder devices in cars.

And the advocacy continues.

“We’d like to go a step further to have actually devices in cars to notify you via your phone or anything that there is a living individual like a baby in the backseat of your car and you don’t realize it,” she said.

Seitz felt Ben with her when she was writing the book.

“Ben was beautiful, gentle, red blonde hair with beautiful blue eyes,” she said, hoping her work makes a difference for her family and others. “When I’m going down the right path and when I really need him, I feel him around, and it’s a really spectacular feeling.”

Kyle took a plea deal and faced no further repercussions. The family now lives in North Carolina.

Lindsey also works with the organization KidsandCars.org.