My sister Laura passed away on Friday 8th July 2022. She suffered a cardiac arrest after a long, brave battle with mitochondrial disease.

Laura was around 18 years old when diagnosed with mito, having suffered from hearing loss from the age of 8. In 2017 she found out through the 100,000 Genome project that she had RRM2B.

After her diagnosis, Laura got involved with two wonderful charities that are supporting families of mitochondrial disease sufferers, The Lily Foundation and Leigh Network.

About The Lily Foundation:

The Lily Foundation is the UK's leading mitochondrial disease charity and the largest charitable funder of mitochondrial research in Europe. Their mission is to improve the lives of people affected by mitochondrial diseases, while working towards a future where mitochondrial diseases can be effectively treated or cured.

About Leigh Network:

Faye Wylie who has Leigh Syndrome, set up Leigh Network, a registered charity, to help people with Mitochondrial Disease and their families, to help reduce the isolation that can be felt when given a diagnosis that can be so daunting. Mitochondrial disease comes in so many forms and affects each person differently. It can often therefore feel like nobody understands or can help.

At Leigh Network they welcome all with open arms and give them as much support as they can, to help them at times when they feel lost or isolated. Their families know they are always there for them.

Laura's Mum, Angela and her Dad, Joe, want to thank Liz from The Lily Foundation and Mandy and Faye from Leigh Network for all of their support over the years. They helped with introducing us to other families in the same situation, keeping us all connected during the pandemic with Zoom calls, and help fund research into one day finding a cure for this horrible disease. They were always on the other end of a phone and organised weekends so families can meet each other who totally understand what MiTo means to the families of those affected.

We would be incredibly grateful if you could help us raise some money in memory of Laura to give something back to these amazing charities that helped make Laura's life so much easier.

Thank you so much.

The Jakubowski's