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.Zahra was born in South Africa on 9th of May 2016 at full term. Shortly after birth doctors noticed she was 'floppy' and she was rushed to ICU. A battery of tests followed but as each routine test came back negative it became clear that something more serious was wrong. A muscle biopsy at 8 weeks old indicated that Zahra had mitochondrial disease, a progressive and life limiting disease that affects how our bodies produce the energy needed to sustain life. It can lead to brain damage, blindness, deafness and other organ failure. Children born with severe symptoms rarely live into adolescence and there is currently no cure. Zahra's parents were advised to take her to the UK or the US for specialized genetic testing. Zahra's mum is from Aberystwyth so they chose to return to the UK to seek the help of the Wellcome Trust for Mitochondrial Research based in Newcastle.

So far initial genetic testing has yielded no results and so Zahra has been accepted into wider genetic research program. Not having a diagnosis for Zahra means that there is currently no prognosis. We don't know if she will live for very long or what her quality of life will be. At the moment she is doing well and appears to be getting slowly stronger, but at 14 months she still cannot stand, crawl, walk or lift her head off the floor. She is also vulnerable to illness and is regularly admitted to hospital.

We are incredibly grateful for the amazing support being provided by the Wellcome Trust for Mitochondrial Research who rely on grants and fundraising to undertake this vital diagnostic work and also, importantly, to search for better treatments and ultimately a cure for mitochondrial disease.

Please help us to raise funds for the Wellcome Trust to help provide hope for Zahra and for other children and parents affected by this devastating disease.

Thank you x