Fifteen-year-old Fairfax, Virginia, student Heman Bekele was named ‘Kid of the Year 2024’ by Times Magazine.
The 15-year-old scientist recently won a competition with his invention–a soap that could one day treat multiple forms of skin cancer.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s surreal,” Bekele said. “To be honest, I haven’t even taken it in yet.”
What earned him the title and cover of the special edition of Time Magazine is his work in creating a cancer-treating soap.
“Pretty much what it is, it’s a bar of soap that’s very cheap but also very effective at treating skin cancer,” Bekele explained.
The 2024 Time Magazine Kid of the Year said the idea was to provide a cheap alternative to those who can’t afford the price of modern-day skin cancer treatments.
The motivation to fight skin cancer stems from the early years Bekele spent in Ethiopia.
“I saw so many people that were working really long hours under the hot sun,” he said. “What keeps me pushing forward is thinking back to the impact that I will be able to have on those groups of people when I one day release that bar of soap.”
He shared what his first set of “potions”, concocted at age 7, consisted of.
They were just dish soap, laundry detergent, and common household chemicals,” he shared.
“I would hide them under my bed and see what would happen if I left them overnight. There was a lot of mixing together completely at random.”
Bekele has since advanced as a scientist, winning a Young Scientist Challenge and receiving a $25,000 cash prize. The invention he created was a soap that could treat and even prevent multiple forms of skin cancer.
“I’m really passionate about skin-cancer research,” he said.
“Whether it’s my own research or what’s happening in the field. It’s absolutely incredible to think that one day my bar of soap will be able to make a direct impact on somebody else’s life. That’s the reason I started this all in the first place. When I was younger, I didn’t think much of it, but when I came to America, I realized what a big problem the sun and ultraviolet radiation is when you’re exposed to it for a long time,” the Addis Ababa native shared.
The young prodigy isn’t all business – he still has a balance of fun in his life being a part of the Woodson High School marching band, playing the flute and trombone while also playing basketball, reading fantasy books, and playing chess.
Peoplesmind
