Brighton Grammar’s Thomas Stretch creates plan to reduce cystic fibrosis infection risk
Brighton Grammar’s Thomas Stretch is proving to be a real life Doogie Howser after the Year 8 student developed a plan to minimise the infection risk for cystic fibrosis patients.
Inner South
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Brighton Grammar’s Thomas Stretch is proving to be a real life Doogie Howser, M.D.
The Year 8 student has developed a plan to minimise the infection risk for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.
Thomas receives treatment at Monash Children’s Hospital for CF.
He said he was inspired to ensure staff and visitors were following processes to reduce CF cross-infection risks.
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Thomas created two resources while working alongside Monash team members Associate Professor David Armstrong and Jane Willis.
He created a poster and instructional video to serve as a visual reminder for staff and visitors to put on a gown and gloves before visiting patients with CF.
“It made me feel good to know that my project wasn’t only for me but for anyone living with cystic fibrosis,” Thomas said.
“To help multiple people who have the same condition as me makes it seem a lot more special.”
Thomas said he hoped to do more work for people with cystic fibrosis.
“It feels really good to help someone other than yourself to improve something that adults oversee,” he said.
“The plan was basically formed out of my experiences, when I was in hospital I noticed the problem and decided to fix it to help others when being admitted.
“I was really pleased when something that started as a simple school project became a real world solution to a significant problem for cystic fibrosis sufferers.”
Thomas’s project won the Wellbeing Award and the ASICS Innovation Award as part of his school’s Year 8 iDesign program. He was invited to share his design thinking process with classmates.
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