An idea developed by a young innovator from Cobargo, the purpose of which is to prevent the same accident that happened to him from happening to others, is gaining attention around Australia.
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Colt Croser's invention Rein Angel has been picked as a finalist out of more than 1000 entries submitted from across the country to Origin's littleBIGidea competition.
Rein Angel is designed to prevent horse riding injuries caused by traditional riding reins and features reins that snap apart when pulled too tight.
The idea for the invention was born after Colt's accident nine months ago that resulted in the loss of the tips of some of his fingers.
"I was tying up a horse and then it walked away and my hands got stuck," he said.
"It ripped the end off my fingers from my [top] knuckles."
His mother Kristen Cowdroy said he was taken to Canberra where he underwent a six-hour operation to try and save the tips of his fingers and after the operation he could not go to school for two months while he was rehabilitating in case he got an infection.
"I made Rein Angel so no more people would have to go through what I went through," he said.
The 11-year-old said his fingers "feel okay now" and his love for horses remains - last weekend he went to Nowra for his first horse riding competition since the accident where he won a reserve champion position.
His mother could not be any prouder of his achievements.
"It makes us very proud and I think something good has come out of a horrible incident," Ms Cowdroy said.
"He's trying to help people."
Pupils from Cobargo Public School have been entering the littleBIGidea competition for the past couple of years but Colt is the first to be selected as a finalist.
But Cobargo Public's Year 5-6 teacher Campbell Kerr said the school's pupils had three ideas in the top 40 entries of the competition this year.
Colt is one of 12 finalists in the competition to receive a one-on-one mentoring session with Engineers Without Borders Australia to further evolve his idea and will also be awarded $1000 to go towards developing his invention.
After the mentoring session he will submit a final pitch video and be in the running to be crowned littleBIGidea's national winner in the grades 5-6 category.
Colt said his idea might evolve before the final pitch.
While it would be the same concept it would focus more on a lead rope than reins.
The top winners from each category will win a trip to NASA in the USA and will be announced in November.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
