A 13-year-old with diabetes and his dad crowdfund a discreet medical backpack for kids

Here’s a good feel-good story for you. Kyle Houlihan, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes four years ago at the age of 9, and his father have designed a backpack that he and other kids with diabetes, asthma and allergies could use to discreetly carry their supplies. It’s been an effort three years in […]

By Deanna Pogorelc on February 28, 2014

Here’s a good feel-good story for you.

Kyle Houlihan, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes four years ago at the age of 9, and his father have designed a backpack that he and other kids with diabetes, asthma and allergies could use to discreetly carry their supplies.

It’s been an effort three years in the making. Now, to manufacture VitalPaks and begin distribution, the family is looking to raise $40,000 in donations through Indiegogo in exchange for early versions of the pack.

After his diagnosis, Kyle was able to adjust to life with diabetes through education classes and support from family and friends. But he still worried that he would stand out among his classmates and be treated differently because he had to carry medical supplies at all times, his father wrote on their Indiegogo page.

That inspired him and his father to design the VitalPak medical backpack. It comes with an essentials kit that can snap out of the pack and be carried in a purse, travel bag or by hand when the full backpack isn’t needed.

Eventually, they intend to donate a portion of VitalPak’s annual sales to the American Diabetes Association, an organization Kyle is deeply involved with.

The campaign runs through April 17.