Details of Sir Ray Avery's plan to save one million babies.
Sir Ray Avery's bold plan to save a million babies by sending incubators to developing countries has won a backer in Los-Angeles based Kiwi actress Kimberley Crossman.
Crossman - the former Shortland Street star and current Funny Girls cast member on TV3 - has become an ambassador for plans to hold a Live Aid style concert at Eden Park next Waitangi Day.
Avery is in talks with local and international stars to appear at the concert to help raise money to build more of his LifePods.
The 70-year-old inventor says $4 million would be enough to make 2000 pods - each of which would save 50 lives in the 10 years it lasted.
Kimberley Crossman is an ambassador for fundraising concert. Photo / Greg Bowker
They would be shipped as gifts of New Zealand to countries where premature babies were dying because hospitals do not have the money or equipment to save them.
Crossman has thrown her weight behind the appeal because she finds it "heartbreaking" children are losing their lives when the technology exists to save them.
"This piece of technology has been refined to be cost effective, affordable and portable," she said.
"So if we can go out and have a great night and enjoy a cool concert with the side effect being that people don't lose their child, it is something I feel we should support. It's a no-brainer."
We in New Zealand are fortunate. Our baseline just by being born here is so far superior to what many other countries have.
Avery, a former New Zealander of the Year who was knighted in 2011, created the LifePod after seeing babies in developing countries die unnecessarily.
Millions lack access to incubators, which provide vulnerable babies with stable environments that regulate temperatures and protect against infections among other life-saving benefits.
Conventional incubators typically cost up to $44,000 and can be difficult to run in poorer regions because they need constant repairs and maintenance, purified water and uninterrupted power supplies.
However, Avery's LifePods can run with tap or seawater, are more durable and cost about $2000 to make.
Sir Ray Avery with his LifePod baby incubators. Photo / Greg Bowker
While Crossman says she hasn't had friends or family lose a baby, she has travelled with global charity World Vision to refugee camps in Jordan and seen horrific poverty.
"Many people are struggling and don't have basic needs, whether it is shelter, food, love, family members," she said.
"We in New Zealand are fortunate. Our baseline just by being born here is so far superior to what many other countries have."
"But we don't need to use our imagination too much to realise how awful that would be if access to a small piece of technology was standing in the way of you losing a child or not."
Crossman's support for the appeal comes amid a busy schedule as she continues to attempt to forge a career on Hollywood and local screens.
As well as appearing in Funny Girls, she will guest host TV3's The Project for the first time next Tuesday after regularly appearing as its LA correspondent.
