We were carjacked at gunpoint and thrown in the trunk while our baby was in the back seat - now our nightmare is saving lives

As they laic trapped successful nan transportation achromatic trunk of their car, each Janette and Greig Fennell could deliberation astir was nan information of their nine-month-old son.

Moments before, nan mates had been forced into their conveyance astatine gunpoint by masked thugs.

But moreover much terrifying for nan mates was nan truth that their babe had been connected nan backmost spot astatine nan time.

Speaking to DailyMail.com astir nan harrowing nighttime successful 1995, she recalled: 'They sewage successful nan car and each we heard them opportunity was, there's a baby'.

But effort arsenic they might, nan mates could not free themselves and truthful began an ordeal which saw them spell hours reasoning their boy Alex had been kidnapped aliases killed.

The nightmare unfolded arsenic nan Fennells were returning location from meal astatine a friend's house.

They pulled into their car shed arsenic usual, but earlier nan doorway could shut, a group of men wearing gloves and Halloween masks swarmed their White Lexus.

They forced nan mates into nan trunk and sped disconnected into nan night. 

'As that was happening, I'm for illustration to my husband, "Can you perceive nan baby? Can you perceive nan baby?"' Janette told DailyMail.com. 'And then, you know, for illustration your mind does crazy things.

'I'm like, "oh, I conscionable saw this show connected Oprah that says if you don't get distant successful nan first 5 minutes, you're dormant and you know, and we're talking crazy for illustration that and we're starting to believe and I kept saying, "Can you perceive him? Can you perceive him?"'

With their thoughts racing and clip ticking by, they began desperately trying to claw their measurement retired but to nary avail.

'Nothing makes consciousness astatine that constituent isolated from for, you know, you wanna past and you, you wanna fig out, you cognize really you're gonna support nan babe safe, I mean astatine 9 months they tin ne'er beryllium alone,' she added.

Eventually, they were driven to a secluded spot southbound of San Francisco wherever nan masked men opened nan trunk erstwhile again.

'I popped up because I wanted to effort to get a consciousness for wherever they had taken us  and that's erstwhile I sewage deed pinch nan butt of nan weapon successful nan backmost of my caput and shoved backmost down,' Janette said.

They were forced to manus complete their jewelry, valuables and pin codes nether threat of decease if they lied.

'They spell to my hubby and they usage nan weapon for illustration to abstracted his collar, to make judge he doesn't person a necklace connected that they want. I mean, he could person been gone correct there,' she added.

'They took everything and nan very past point they said to america earlier they adjacent nan trunk again was, "If this isn't nan correct pin number, we're gonna travel backmost and termination you".'

With that they slammed nan trunk unopen and sped disconnected successful a waiting get distant vehicle, leaving nan mates for dead.

But successful a infinitesimal Janette calls 'divine intervention', she spied a ray sparkling connected a device, which turned retired to be the internal trunk merchandise mechanism.

The mates managed to make their flight and dialed 911 begging constabulary for help.

Miraculously Alex was located safe and sound soon after. The kidnappers had deposited him unharmed successful nan foyer of nan family's home.

But successful nan weeks and years that followed that fateful night, Janette struggled to set and was haunted by 1 officer's words that situations for illustration hers don't usually extremity arsenic it did.

With nan kidnappers still astatine large, she was plagued by thoughts of thing akin happening to personification else.

'I thought this was crazy. How, really tin you put personification successful their ain trunk and they can't get out?' she said.

Fueled by her rage, Fennell wrote to car manufacturers demanding to cognize why vehicles do not travel pinch emergency latch releases arsenic standard. 

After getting nary response, she kicked her run up a notch by compiling nan first ever information group connected nan magnitude of accidents involving group locked successful trunks.

But successful a pre-Google world, this progressive sifting done pages of newspaper cuttings and tribunal transcripts.'

'I'd put successful 'trunk' and 'locked in' and get 10k matches,' she explained. 'Then, I'd walk hours reference done each azygous result.' 

Her efforts uncovered immoderate alarming statistic - 931 incidents involving 1,082 people.

In a 4th of nan cases nan unfortunate died either from power stroke, asphyxiation, aliases hypothermia.

Victims were typically children who had climbed successful while playing aliases group who were being kidnapped. 

For nan adjacent 4 years Fennell, battled to get her sound heard - successful nan process discovering she was not nan first to petition for nan change.

Each clip conveyance manufacturers were stubbornly resistant to implementing nan change, citing prohibitive costs.

However nan tenacious mom uncovered modelling from nan 1970s which showed that nan devices would costs conscionable 3 cents per car to make and install.

Her fortunes improved pursuing a gathering pinch past US-rep Bart Stupak who took an liking successful nan case.

He sponsored a measure to require a study of trunk entrapment and nan Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration formed a sheet to investigate.

Despite immoderate first reticence nan sheet passed a instruction successful 1999 by 1 vote.

The instruction stipulates that each vehicles from 2002 must beryllium equipped pinch a latch merchandise system successful nan trunk.

Since past location has been nary grounds of a trunk related decease pinch nan instrumentality installed.

However, not contented pinch her victory, Fennell has continued to run for amended car safety, forming nan non-profit Kids and Car Safety.

Today she is recognized arsenic nan nationalist leader for kid information successful vehicles and tin return in installments for innovations specified arsenic safer model controls and brake-to-shift interlock systems connected automatic cards

'I conscionable think, you know, portion of nan connection needs to beryllium that we each suffer from, "It's not gonna hap to me",' Janette explained. 'But thing could beryllium further from nan truth.'