This Panic-Button Ring Could Save Your Life
This tiny fashion accessory could save a life.
Let's be honest: The last few weeks have been brutal and scary.
From the Orlando shooting, to Christina Grimmie's death and, most recently, the woman killed on the Chicago Red Line train, it's been scary and heavy to live in a time during which it feels like violent outbursts are the norm. It's unsettling to realize that you can never be sure if you're going to be totally safe.
Katya Roma transformed the fear from her own attack into action, creating a product to help people everywhere who might be in an emergency situation.
Ekaterina Romanovskaya, known on Nimb's Kickstarter campaign as Kathy Roma, was brutally attacked in public 16 years ago.
Basically, a man approached her, she ignored him and then he attacked her. The details are in her original Facebook post but they are very triggering and unsettling.
She turned her pain into passion to find a way to help victims in similar emergencies. From that passion, the Nimb ring was born.
Nimb is a ring with a panic button on the back.
Here are the instructions on how to use it.
After the button is held down, Nimb vibrates to let the user know that the message has been sent and emergency services have been notified. It also sends location in real time, making it more reliable than calling 911.
The ring comes with an app where the user can add family and friends' contact information so they can be notified in an emergency.
The app uses a feature called "safety circles" to contact people nearby, the police and other emergency services, private security services and the local community. The user can determine the reach of her or his safety circles.
Obviously, this is a great safety tool, especially for kids, who might not have cell phones yet.
It can help senior citizens who need to wear something more inconspicuous than big, bulky Life Alert.
The best part about the ring is that its true purpose is concealed, so an alert can be made without an attacker noticing or without too much effort on the victim's part.
On Kickstarter, Nimb's fundraising goal of $50,000 has already been surpassed, hitting the $153,000 mark.
If you donate $75 you'll get a ring delivered to you, and you can check out more about the ring at the Nimb website.
The ring can be activated in situations of domestic violence, shootings, natural disasters and really any emergency situation during which someone would be unable to use her or his phone.
Do you think the Nimb ring is a much-needed invention that everyone should get to stay safe? Or do you think it's concerning that we live in a country where mass shootings are so commonplace that we need a "magic ring" to protect us at all times?