Blaze Daane, 16, is working on a glow-in-the-dark nightstand caddy called Mediglow, which he hopes will have widespread medical use.
‘‘I’m a type one diabetic and quite often I’d wake up and not know where my supplies are.’’
Blaze said others in the diabetic community had been having the same issue and some floated the idea of a nightstand caddy.
‘‘We went to the diabetic community and asked what they thought would be good.
‘‘A couple of people said a nightstand thing and then I had the idea to make it glow in the dark.’’
The idea had been well received by people in the community and he had also seen a need for its broader use, he said.
‘‘It can be for people that are older, people with asthma ... a lot of people said they could just keep medication or have it to be able to find their stuff in the dark.’’
There had already been interest from the Bupa facility in Riverton and Blaze said he also had received an inquiry from the hospital.
‘‘They said they could have them implanted on to their hospital fold-out tables.’’
He had never expected that kind of response, which included funding from the Riverton op shop, he said.
‘‘I thought it would just be a school thing and then I got all this great positive feedback and I was like ‘oh wow, it’s actually something that could do well’.’’
He submitted Mediglow to the Young Enterprise Scheme and pitched it to a panel of judges in Invercargill last Friday.
The scheme gives students the opportunity to learn about business planning and operations.
‘‘It’s getting pretty serious now,’’ Blaze said.
‘‘[The support] really solidified it.’’
