11-year-old's invention could prevent hot car deaths

MCKINNEY, TX - An 11-year-old boy from McKinney, Texas could potentially put an end to hot car deaths.

Bishop Curry is a young inventor who loves gardening and all things technology. When a baby from his neighborhood died after being left in a hot car, he never wanted something like that to happen again.

Curry invented Oasis, a device that will sit on a car seat and detect movement if a baby is left in the car. It will blow cool air on the baby and call emergency responders.

The 11-year-old prototyped his idea with the help of his dad, Bishop Curry IV, and asked him to pitch it to his employer, Toyota. The father and son team made a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of a patent and initial manufacturing and raised more than $46,000.

Curry says he feels awesome to be able to make something that will actually help people. “I never even knew it would get this far. I made twice the amount I was going for.”

Business students from Miami Dade College reached out to the young inventor and volunteered to put together a marketing plan, business strategy and website as part of a class project.

When asked about his next steps after securing a patent, the young inventor said, “After that we gotta work with the manufacturers, which I don’t know a lot about that stage but I will learn about it. But then it should be manufactured and sold.”

Curry says he has two more big ideas coming down the pipeline, but prefers to keep them a secret to protect his intellectual property.

His dad is beyond proud. “He’s got a ton of great ideas but this one, you know, when he first told me about it I knew that we had to do everything we could to help him get this out to the public because it happens way too often.”

Nineteen children have died from being left in hot cars as of July 2017, according to climatologist  and heat stroke expert Jan Null. The elder Bishop hopes that the summer publicity will serve as a reminder to parents to be extra careful.

For parents with older children, he hopes the story will make them realize that every kid has internal genius. “As adults we just have to listen, or build [their] confidence to tell somebody about their ideas.”

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