Hannah Lucas, 16, from Georgia was diagnosed with a mental health issue causing frequent fainting in 2016. Despaired and depressed, she began to fear even to leave the house.
Yet, she found a way out to feel more comfortable during collapses and help other people suffering from mental disorders.
Hannah was an ordinary teenage until she turned 14
She started fainting daily for no apparent reason during her first year at high school. Her condition forced Hannah to miss 196 classes. Soon after health survey, doctors diagnosed the teen with a rare mental disorder.
The girl fell into a severe depression
She was terrified there would be no one around at the moment she fainted. Her classmates would find unconscious Hannah at the school bathroom and backyard.
After another collapse, the girl got an idea
One night, Hannah was in hysterics and told her mom, Robyn, “I wish there was an app that could notify people when I was about to faint.”
That’s when the idea of an app for people in distress was born.
Hannah’s brother Charlie welcomed the idea proactively
Charlie, 13, who was nicknamed “Tech Support” by his family, created a prototype of notOK App. The boy used the coding skills he got in a summer tech camp in Georgia.
Additionally, Charlie created a website and their first logo.
“Making this app made her feel better and that made me feel better,” Hannah’s brother told ABC.
Before turning the prototype into an app, siblings conducted a research
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in six American adults and almost half of adolescents live with a mental illness. That info convinced Hannah and Lucas that their app will have users.
Hannah controlled every stage of the app’s development. The idea of two teenagers impressed mentors from Georgia Tech so much that they connected the family with a dev team from Savannah.
It took six months to develop the app
notOk app was released on January 31, 2018. The app is a virtual panic button that sends a notification-and-help-request message along with the user’s GPS location to five trusted contacts. If a user needs instant emotional or physical support, they can get it as well by tapping another button.
The reaction for the app was positive, especially from parents and kids suffering anxiety.
I will grow up to help people
A week since release it has already been downloaded over 500 times.
The young entrepreneurs dream big.
Hannah says, “I will grow up to help people. I dream that one-day notOk will not only be an app, but a movement”.
Source: notOKapp, Abcnews, Atlantablackstar, Twitter
Featured image: Instagram
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