A 10-Year-Old Invented A Device To Prevent Hot-Car Deaths

We all know that babies and children (and puppies and adults and pretty much everyone) don't belong sitting in a hot car in the middle of summer; and yet the number of hot-car deaths tripled between 2015 and 2016. Now, someone has invented a device to prevent hot-car deaths, and here's the amazing part: he's 10. I'm pretty sure I was still fingerpainting when I was 10.

The boy in question is Bishop Curry, and he found himself motivated upon learning that his neighbor's six-month-old infant named Fern died from being in a hot car. His device is called the Oasis, and it could help prevent something tragic like this from ever happening again. The Oasis responds to climbing temperatures by producing cool air. It also uses an antenna to send a signal to parents and authorities. Bishop tells the HuffPost, "It kind of came in my head."

Young Bishop still has some work ahead of him — as of right now, the Oasis is just a 3D clay model. He has the full support of his parents, though: his dad started a GoFundMe for the Oasis in January, and they have well surpassed their $20,000 goal, having received $24,826 at the time of this article.

According to the page, all of this money will go toward attorney fees, finalizing the patent, prototyping fees, and finding a manufacturer. Not bad for a kid who hasn't even started sixth grade yet, right? Bishop has big goals and wants to be an inventor when he grows up. His to-do list includes a time machine.

Aside from the many generous donors and his parents, Bishop's classmates and friends also stand behind him. He told Fox News, "They want to work for me." Smart kids!

It's a no-brainer that you're gambling with life when you leave your child in a hot car, and yet people continue to do it. NoHeatStroke.org says that since 1998, 712 children have died of heatstroke after being left in vehicles — 712 deaths that didn't have to happen. This year alone, there have already been 12. An equally alarming statistic is that 54 percent of these cases happened because the child was forgotten by the caregiver. 28 percent were playing in the vehicle unattended. 17 percent were intentionally left inside the vehicle. Heartbreaking.

We need to be better about this, plain and simple; but Bishop Curry's ingenius invention certainly doesn't hurt. Our hats are off to you, Bishop. Keep thinking big. You're going to save lives.