The empathy of a mother is one of the strongest emotions, and when it comes to her concern for the safety of her children, the sky is the limit.
Natalie Bell, from the Australian state of Victoria Australia and a mother of five, was worried about what could happen if her daughter was caught in an accident, so she thought of a way to explain to people her medical conditions or requirements.
Her daughter, Shae, was born with a moderate hearing loss but by the time she was one, she lost most of her hearing. Since Bell knew about Shae’s condition, she learned Auslan, Australian Sign Language.
Currently, Shae has a severe loss in her right ear and a profound hearing loss in her left ear.
She has a cochlear implant, which is a surgically implanted device that provides a sense of sound to a person with moderate to profound hearing loss. Yet, due to the implant, she should not be exposed to the magnetic field of an MRI which can do damage.
Therefore, the mother wanted to find a way, that in the event of a car accident, during which she is incapacitated, doctors will be able to provide the best possible care.
Natalie sensed the vulnerability of her daughter in case of an accident and that inspired her to create a handy device.
The result was a personal cover for seat belts that would apprise first responders of any medical condition that a child might have and aid them to act appropriately.
Realizing that the same idea could help other children with disabilities, Natalie also made a version for people with other conditions and shared her invention on Facebook to advertise the covers.
The post quickly went viral, and Natalie explains that she’s been inundated with praise from parents, firefighters, and police, even though she didn’t expect any of it.
Natalie owns Personalised by Nat, a business where she sells her personalized creation, mostly for pets and children. Her newest invention, Bellt Alert covers, can be wrapped around a seat belt.
The sea cover has a white background and in case of poor light conditions or from a distance, the writings can be easily read as they are written in clear and large bold letters.
Moreover, they are made with Velcro, so they can fit school bags as well as seat belts.
In the worst-case scenario, Natalie always feared that she would be unable to communicate with their rescuers that the cochlear implant that her daughter had did not allow for an MRI.
Therefore, her innovative seat covers provided relief.
The seat belt cover can be used to convey a host of information, medical or otherwise, and they can be fastened onto seat belts or even backpack straps.
Since every child will have a different need, these seat belt covers are personalized. Some covers even inform that the child has communication issues, or will resist help from strangers.
The seatbelt straps are portable so they can also be used on school or hiking backpack straps, bus seat belts or any other vehicle.
Bell designs all of them, and they cover a host of medical conditions including autism, Down syndrome, diabetes, epilepsy.
In a case of an accident, other similar products like medical bracelets usually go unnoticed, but the seat belt cover is the first thing an emergency responder sees when he arrives at a scene of an accident to rescue or extricate a child.
The covers are sold on Natalie’s website and go for $15. However, due to unusually high demand, a personalized product usually takes 15-30 days to deliver.
Bell says she can personalize the seat belt covers for any number of conditions that may relate to our loved one’s treatment in the event of an emergency.
Sources:
truththeory.com
www.distractify.com
www.carvdnstone.com