More on KentOnline
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A 10-year-old girl has her sights set on creating more inspirational inventions after she was recognised by an international competition.
Abigail "Abi" Denne, who lives in Snodland, has been awarded a runners-up prize for her creation which involved inventing wind shields for hearing aids, something she has first-hand experience with.
It comes after MED-EL, a leading provider and inventor of hearing implant systems, announced the winners of its global children's invention contest, ideas4ears.
Now Abi, who has bi-lateral moderate hearing loss and wears two hearing aids, has delivered a heart-warming message about her future plans.
“I’m thinking of inventing other things to inspire people over all the world, not to try and fit in but to stand out, like they are meant to be there - because they are,” she said.
“They are special. We all are.”
The contest challenged children who are six to 12 years old to create an invention to improve the quality of life for people with hearing loss.
Overall, 108 children from 28 different countries participated and submitted 86 invention ideas, with Abi receiving a box of goodies along with her highly commended prize for her invention.
Explaining her idea, she said: “It is a wind shield for hearing aids and it clips on to the tube of your hearing aid to prevent wind blowing into it because, when you are outside, all you can hear is kind of blowing into microphones.
“I decided to make this because, when I go outside, it can get really annoying because I can’t hear anyone.
“But now, I can when I use the wind shields. I can hear anything but the wind, really.”
Cathy, Abi’s mum, added: “We are really, really proud of Abi.
“When she said she wanted to enter the MED-EL competition which we found out about through the Kent Deaf Children’s Society, I was really excited for her.
“But it also gave us an insight. I didn’t realise how much difficulty she was having when we were out and about on windy days, that she couldn’t hear us very well outside.
“That kind of brought it to light and made us aware of another challenge she has been facing, so we are really proud of her.”
The main UK winner of the competition was 13-year-old Dylan Sandey from Cheltenham who invented a smart watch which could be connected to his cochlear implants - mainly to help him wake up in the mornings.
