By Melissa Grant
Worried about what would happen to her daughter in a car crash, Natalie Bell made a personalised seatbelt cover to make her little girl’s hearing loss known to first responders.
The mum of five posted about her simple but potentially life-saving creation on her Facebook page, Personalised by Nat, advising she could make seatbelt covers any special needs.
Natalie was thinking a few of her friends might be interested.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that the post would go viral and lead to thousands of orders from all over the world.
“The post got 54 million views,” the Upper Beaconsfield mum said.
“I got thousands of orders from all over the world – South Africa, Canada, the UK. I’m now mass producing the seatbelt covers as I can’t keep up with the orders.”
There are 13 different seatbelt covers with medical information about a range of disabilities and conditions. The covers, which can be attached to backpacks, can also be personalised.
So far, Natalie has received orders for people with a variety of disabilities and medical conditions, including children whose blood doesn’t clot and a girl’s whose organs are on the opposite side of her body.
The seatbelt cover for her daughter 10-year-old Shae, who lost her hearing as a baby, simply reads: “I am deaf. I have a cochlear implant. No MRI.”
Although people can wear emergency information jewellery to communicate important medical information, Natalie wanted to make her daughter’s condition obvious to first responders.
“It’s so they know that she’s deaf, that she’s not going to be able to hear them,” she explained.
“It’s not that she’s ignoring them – they just need to interact with her in a different way.”
Natalie said it was also imperative that medical personnel were alerted to the dangers of Shae undergoing an MRI scan.
“The magnet placed on in the inside of her head, it can move and cause a lot of damage,” Natalie explained.
“If she needs an MRI then the cochlear implant needs to taken out and put back in.”
Natalie has also made a range of other personalised items inspired by Shae.
The stay-at-home mum began making the items, including Auslan clocks, earlier this year as a way to keep her busy during the week and potentially earn some income.
It’s the second business venture for Natalie, who also owns a jumping castle business with her husband.
“I thought ‘I need something else to do during the week – I’m getting a bit bored even though I’ve got the two little kids at home!’” the crafty mum, who previously worked in aged care, said.
With thousands of orders to fulfil and five kids aged 1 to 15, she certainly won’t be bored any time soon.
Although she still can’t believe her almost overnight success.
“It’s just been absolutely amazing,” she said.
