FOUNDERS STORY
The Strawberry Hub was not born in a boardroom. It was born in a hospital corridor, in the space between fear and hope, in the silent moment when I realised how fragile life becomes when information fails to travel faster than illness.
For years, my own life had been shaped by neurological and cognitive challenges — ADHD, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, depression following a severe breakdown — conditions that do not simply pass but must be navigated daily with resilience. Joining the dots in my own health journey was often exhausting.
Explaining my history again and again. Hoping the records were accurate. Wondering whether the system truly saw the whole of me. I learned firsthand that healthcare can feel fragmented, isolating, and overwhelming — especially when your mind or nervous system is already under strain. And somewhere within that struggle, a belief formed: patients should be able to see their own health story. They should be able to share it safely. They should decide who has access. That should be their call. Strawberry Law.
But the defining moment came the day I almost lost my son.
He was born with bladder complications and lived with ongoing urology issues under the care of Manchester Children’s Hospital. When he was fifteen, his bladder perforated. We went to our local hospital, where he was treated for suspected appendicitis.
They could not access his specialist records. They could not see the full picture. He was pumped with fluids to rehydrate him — fluids that leaked into his internal cavity because of the perforation. The pain intensified. His body began poisoning itself from within. We were hours away from losing him. Hours. Not because care was unavailable. Not because professionals did not try. But because the information was not connected.
In that moment, something irreversible happened inside me. I knew this could not just be our story. And since then, almost every person I have spoken to has shared a version of their own — a delay, a missing record, a miscommunication, a system gap that cost time, safety, or trust.
Healthcare is hard enough when it works. It becomes unbearable when it doesn’t communicate.
The Strawberry Hub was created to ensure that no family stands in a corridor feeling powerless because data cannot move. It was built so practitioners can share information safely and securely. Patients can view their records 24/7.
They can share them with those closest to them when it matters most. It was built to reduce waiting times, strengthen practitioner–patient engagement, and create transparent communication through innovation, integration, and intelligent software. It was shaped not by theory, but by lived experience — by fear, resilience, and an unwavering determination that others would not be failed the same way.
To have the support of Dr Heidi Haavik — someone whose work in neuroscience and the gut–brain axis is globally respected — felt like validation that this mission was bigger than one family. It confirmed that this vision could move from personal necessity to global transformation.
My promise from the beginning was simple and unwavering: data, not dollar. Research before revenue. Outcomes before profit. Because if we truly capture structured, secure, anonymised global data, we unlock something far more powerful than subscriptions
— we unlock discovery.
The Strawberry Hub’s vision is bold. To link practitioners and the public across the planet into a unified cognitive and health research programme.
To create the most comprehensive longitudinal health dataset ever assembled. To power artificial intelligence not with speculation, but with real human journeys. To build a continuously learning, continuously improving healthcare system — one that anticipates risk, supports practitioners, empowers patients, and evolves with every interaction.
The strawberry is small, resilient, and regenerative. It grows outward through connection. That is what this platform represents — connection over fragmentation, knowledge over fear, prevention over crisis. It is a response to a near tragedy. It is a promise to families. It is a declaration that healthcare can be safer, smarter, and more human.
The Strawberry Hub exists because, one day, information stopped flowing and almost cost everything. And now, it will.
My quest.
Strawbs
The strawberry hub
Stuart Aubury / Strawbs