An 11-year-old inventor and cancer survivor designed a prototype for an IV backpack to make mobility during chemotherapy easier for other kids.
Kylie Simonds, of Connecticut, was diagnosed three years ago with rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer. She is now cancer-free and using the time that was once allotted for chemotherapy treatments to help her other friends she met in the hospital when she was sick.
While she was getting treated she used an IV, Kylie recalls tripping over the wires, it being hard to push when she was weak from chemotherapy, and it getting in the way when she wanted to play. This is what inspired her invention.
She wishes she had a backpack, such as her prototype, while she was recovering.
"It would have been so much easier and I can get around quicker. It usually prevented me, the bars prevented me from actually playing," Kylie told WTNH.
When she was creating the idea, she also had her friends that she met at the hospital in mind .
Her friend Marik, who has a prosthetic leg, needs someone to push his IV for him at all times because he needs crutches to walk.
Another friend, Brooke, often brings an IV home with her from the hospital, so Kylie believes the backpack would be helpful to her as well.
The prototype that comes in different colors and designs won awards at the Connecticut Invention Convention. One of her awards included a provisional patent.
Right now, Kylie is working on raising money to be able to produce her prototype. At the time this article was published, she raised $2,837 on Go Fund Me. She is looking to raise $50,000.
