Irish schoolgirl invents Tick Kit to fight Lyme disease

Classmates Sarah Cooper and Ali O'Donoghue with their Tick Kits

Ali O’Donoghue and her school win a big award at the Junior Entrepreneurship Showcase

Irish schoolgirl Ali O’Donoghue invented the award-winning Tick Kit after she suffered a tick bite of her own.

“There was very little information on how to remove them correctly,” recalls O’Donoghue after having found ticks on her hands and legs.

Though O’Donoghue successfully recovered from her tick bites, she and her classmates decided to do something about the misinformation. Ticks can often transmit Lyme disease, and the schoolchildren understood the importance of proper care and awareness.

Together, they formulated the idea for Tick Kits and enrolled in Ireland’s Junior Entrepreneur Programme under the guidance of their teacher Edward Looney.

Tick Kits, priced at €8, come in small plastic containers and contain two tick twisters, two circle plasters, two antiseptic wipes, and a pair of rubber gloves. They are currently being sold in pharmacies and shops local to the Co Kerry Scoil Bhríde Loreto National School.

So far, Tick Kits have turned a profit of €569.90. O’Donoghue explained how a lot of research went into what materials to include in the kit, the kit’s price point, and where to sell it. Members of the community advised their project from both the medical and business viewpoints.

Watch Ali O’Donoghue talk about her Tick Kits project here:

In June, the students were awarded the Community Champions award at the Junior Entrepreneurship Showcase in Dublin. The event brought together schools from all across the country and a myriad of business ideas thought up by children aged 10 to 12 years old.

“I would’ve never thought that one little idea could get this big,” O’Donoghue said to the Irish Independent.

“It’s really unbelievable when people are actually going to pay money for it,” she added.

“It made me feel very happy and very proud. I think, in the future, the Tick Kit is what will stop people from getting Lyme disease and prevent people from getting sick.”