11-Year Old Boy Bishop Curry Invents A Device To Prevent Babies Dying From Heat In The Car

By Lizzie DeGanga

A year ago, 11-year old Bishop Curry watched a local news report about a 6-month-old girl in his neighborhood who died after being left in a hot car. kidsandcars.org estimates about 37 young children die per year of vehicular heat stroke in the United States. Within hours of learning the heartbreaking news, Curry created a prototype of a device he believes could have saved the child’s life.  “It made him sad, and at that point, the wheels started turning in his mind,” Bishop’s father, Bishop Curry IV, told CBS News. “He came up with a way to prevent it from happening.”

Bishop, a 6th grader has a knack for inventing things. He has created a home-made catapult and ping pong ball cannon, to thinking of ways to melt ice and snow on roads without using salt. It comes as no surprise he went to work on his idea immediately and as soon as his dad, an engineer at Toyota came home from work that day, he ran to him with a sketch of a device he called “Oasis.”

“When he showed me that sketch I was so proud of him for thinking of a solution,” Curry said. “We always just complain about things and rarely offer solutions.”

Young Bishop originally designed a fan that would automatically turn on when it detects the inside of a car has reached a certain temperature. The device would be placed on a headrest — in the front or rear, depending on the age of the child and where their carseat is facing.

“The device detects if vehicle comes to stop, using GPS technology,” Curry explained. “It then detects if a child is in that car seat, and if the car is heating up. If all of those things are taking place it blows cold air on the child through an internal cooling system.”

He also wanted to find a way to get the child rescued from the dangerous situation. So, he added Wi-Fi as well as GPS technology.

If the fan is activated, a built-in antenna will then use the Wi-Fi to contact the child’s parents. If they don’t respond, it will alert local authorities. 

In January, Curry’s father launched a GoFundMe campaign for the invention. While Curry already has a provisional patent and a 3D model, they hope to raise money to finalize the patent, build prototypes, and find a manufacturer. Their goal was $20,000, but so many people believe in Oasis’ potential that Curry has raised over $48,452 and still counting. 

To give to this great project, click the link to his GoFundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/endhotcardeaths.