BY SARAH A. LYBRAND ON AUGUST 15, 2014, for Affect Magazine

Kylie Simonds is no ordinary sixth grader. This precocious eleven-year-old from Naugatuck, CT survived a rare form of connective tissue cancer and invented a pediatric I.V. backpack so that kids like her could have the freedom to play, travel, and just be kids.

When we caught up with Kylie, she was vacationing with her family at Hershey Park, PA. But only three short years ago, such a vacation was impossible; she was hooked up to an uncomfortable, inconvenient I.V. pole that got in her way whenever she tried to play, leave her room, travel, or do anything fun.

“The worst part was the tubes. They would catch and get tangled in things—it hurt!” Kylie said.

Her dad, Michael Simonds, added, “People forget that kids with cancer get 2-3 hours of chemo and then they go home. They’re not always stuck in bed. Kids move around, they don’t stay still.”

One day, she was assigned an “Invention Convention” project for science class, and she knew exactly what she wanted to invent: a way for kids like her (and maybe adults one day, too) to enjoy unprecedented freedom and comfort while they’re attached to cumbersome medical equipment.

Kylie bought a ‘Hello Kitty’ backpack (“My favorite!” she gushes) on clearance from Target with her $15 project budget and started tooling around with her dad, working with household objects like scrap metal and an arrowhead to act as a lever on the device.

Most ingeniously, the design includes a wire cage for the IV to hang from so it doesn’t get punctured, dropped, or compressed. This cage—currently a spiral—can be welded into any number of customizable shapes, from hearts to peace signs to footballs. Her dad did the welding, but he isn’t a manufacturer or designer by any stretch (he’s a customs officer for Homeland Security). “He is pretty handy, though!” chimes in Kylie.

Dad had the equipment, but Kylie had the vision.

“She designed and drew it, painted it, using a box IV pump and dimes as mock buttons, made sure it had style,” said Michael. The project took home the highest honor at the science fair’s Invention Convention, the coveted ‘Patent Award’, the prize money from which is helping Kylie with the costs of filing a patent so her product can be manufactured and sold.

Kylie invented the bag (or the “I-Pack,” as she’s dubbed it) for the friends she met on the cancer unit, “and they love the idea.” The friendships were formed over the course of 46 weeks of chemo and a month of radiation, something that she felt could have been made less scary if she had a product like the one she one day hopes to donate to cancer wards across America.

But with a shy giggle—and business acumen beyond her age—even Kylie realizes it will be hard to accomplish without upfront capital.

“First, we have to make one [prototype] and then sell them. And then I can give them away!” she exclaimed.

Her parents have helped her set up a GoFundMe page, whose goal is to raise $50,000—which, according to manufacturers, may not be enough to develop the prototype they envision. But, says Michael, they’ll start small and grow.

“It’s Kylie who’s thinking really big, said Mike. “Multiple designs, customizable cages, maybe one-day products for teens and then adults.”

Celebs such as Katie Couric and Jenny McCarthy have already helped Kylie’s cause, retweeting and donating, and Kylie’s future seems bright. The 11-year-old, who has been cancer-free for two years, she says wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.

So, remember to wear a gold ribbon for Kylie next month—it’s National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month–and support Kylie’s campaign to make cancer just a little more tolerable, functional, and, yes, even fashionable.

Sarah A. Lybrand

Tiny Inventor Seeks to Improve Lives of Kids with Cancer