A Fermanagh teenager has turned his own adversity into a positive app to help others dealing with chronic illness.
After nearly two years of hospital visits and struggling to explain his symptoms to doctors, 15-year-old Johnny McCusker decided enough was enough, so he began creating an app to make life easier for others like him.
“I’ve been living with chronic illness for almost two years, most of this time spent in the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast, and it has shaped a lot of my day-to-day life,” Johnny told the ‘Herald.
“Managing symptoms, remembering medications, and explaining everything to doctors the next day has often felt overwhelming. Instead of letting that discourage me, I wanted to turn the challenge into something positive — and that’s where the idea for my app came from.”
Johnny came up with the idea for AuraHaven after struggling to manage his own health. “There were so many times where I’d be up at night dealing with symptoms, but by the next morning when the doctor’s came around I couldn’t remember exactly how bad it was, when it started, or what might have triggered it. That made me feel powerless, and I thought there had to be a better way,” he said.
“Instead of waiting for someone else to create a solution, I decided to do it myself. Even though I’m only 15, I’ve started developing AuraHaven because I wanted a tool that makes tracking symptoms, medications, and cycles simple, reliable, and even calming.”
Johnny says what drives him the most is knowing he is not the only one who feels this way.
“I know there are so many others, young and old, who face the same challenges every day,” he said. “My hope is that AuraHaven will make things easier for them too — giving people the confidence and support that I often wished I had myself.
“My hope for AuraHaven is to make tracking health feel less like a chore and more like a safe companion. I want it to give people reassurance, structure, and a sense of control — whether that’s spotting patterns in symptoms, remembering to take medications, or logging important cycle details.”
You can find updates on
TikTok at @aurahavenofficial, where Johnny is sharing progress and building a community around this journey