this is abigail...the face of a fun, happy, loving, giggly and charismatic kid.
this is also a face of a child with a terminal illness...mitochondrial disease.
this last saturday the UMDF chapter in indiana held the annual "mito walk" to raise awareness and funds for research for mitochondrial disease.
and that face...up there...that sweet toothy grin...she's one of the big reasons so many of us walk and donate and help.
i had the honor to be the "press" or the photographer at the mito walk...and i loved it! the clan here walk as the "motley crew"...you may remember last year...
{this year...there was a softball tournament with p, and b and jk both had soccer games, so we sadly had to miss the walking part as a fam. but i was so grateful to still be a part.}
so what is mitochondrial disease??? well, it's complicated, but we all have mitochondria in us...and those mito's are our energy system. mitochondria generates 90% of all the energy needed by the body to sustain life and for us to grow.
every 30 minutes a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease.each year, 1000 to 4000 kids in the US are born with mitochondrial disease.
here's the group of folks we consider fam...this is abigail's army...all walking and fighting and praying for one little girl all the time...and raising funds and awareness for so many others!
{notice abigail in the center with the balloon, above the "i" in mito}
this is the whole group starting out on saturday...it was flipping cold!!! but there were smiles galore! there were 15 or so teams walking in honor and for loved ones who have mitochondrial disease.
so, would you please pray today...for all of those affected by mitochondrial disease. for all those battling and fighting and often times, suffering. pray for their caregivers and families. it's a struggle...to get diagnosed, to get treatments, to find new alternatives to old ways of doing things...
Comments
~K