10-year-old invents a gadget to stop babies dying in heated cars

Bishop Curry's "Oasis" is a simple solution to a tragic problem.

Despite numerous warnings and heartbreaking news reports, around 37 children die from heatstroke in cars each year in the US, and disturbingly this figure never seems to go down. In fact, this year alone, 17 young children have already died after being left in overly-heated cars, and summer isn’t even in full swing. So to combat the problem, a young inventor named Bishop Curry put all his efforts into coming up with an innovative and simple solution, and in doing so proved that sometimes it takes a child to come to another child’s rescue.

Curry, a 10-year-old Texan, was initially inspired after the death of a neighbor, baby Fern, who lost her life after being left in a hot car. The industrious 5th grader got to work and came up with a simple gadget that not only reacts to the car’s heat but also has an alert system built in. The small pink box named “Oasis” has tiny air ducts “that blow cool air when it becomes too hot inside a car and an antenna that alerts parents and emergency services.” Clipped on to the child’s car seat, the little box that already has a provisional patent could help save the life of any young car passenger. However, Curry, being a conscientious inventor, wants to spend the summer months perfecting the gadget and only then will he hand it over to manufacturers who are eager to get this product on the shop floor.

While we can’t help but admire Curry’s creativity and engineering skills, his attitude is even more impressive. The schoolboy who spends his time inventing all sorts of objects said, “It would be a dream to have lots of inventions that would save many lives.” His concern for others is something we all want to see in our children and this can only be developed if our children are aware of what’s going on around them. It’s so easy for kids to be attached to their screens and absorbed in a virtual world but if they are encouraged to look beyond their favorite video game they might see that there’s so much more to gain in the real world. With his supportive parents, Curry has shown how kids can think outside the box, and better still, can think of others.