An innovative girl used her personal battle to help others.
Kylie Simonds, 11, is a cancer survivor.
She was diagnosed when she was just three years old and knew the challenges kids face when battling the disease.
She used her experience, her smarts, and Hello Kitty to create a cancer kit to make the fight a little easier.
The hot pink Hello Kitty backpack lights up, but it's really a pediatric IV backpack that can easily be carried around.
"My inspiration is for all my friends, from all my friends that had cancer and have cancer; they all inspired me to make this," said Simonds.
The backpack would be used for kids going through chemotherapy treatments.
Simonds came up with the idea when she was assigned a school project.
"I had to think of an everyday problem, so I thought of the everyday problem I used to have, which was going to treatment and using the IV poles," she said.
She is now a sixth grader, and fought her own battle for a full year after being diagnosed with a type of soft tissue cancer.
She went through a month of radiation and 46 weeks of chemotherapy.
She said the worst part about it was wheeling around a large metal pole with an IV and tubes attached.
"Even when I was in treatment, I was like, 'this could be so much easier if I thought of something,' and then I thought of something. I know how backpacks, I use them for school, and I thought of how light they are. Treatments would be so much easier for them and not as scary for them because just seeing the IV poles is scary," she said.
Eventually, Simonds wants the backpacks to be personalized for boys and girls, including different colors and themes.
She has raised $52,000 through a GoFundMe page. Now, the most important part is getting the backpacks made.
"I'm hoping that all the hospitals all over the country can have them, and that the camps can have them, and I want all the kids to be happy again," she said.
