Delaney is the author of today's post. Her brother, Grant, was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease as an infant. Watching him grow up with this disease and face these challenges led her to starting a Facebook fan page, Wish GRANTed, to help bring awareness to mitochondrial disorders.
This is the story of how a young girl's determination & love for her brother can bring inspire others to stand up and work towards a cure for mitochondrial disease.
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My name is Delaney, and I'm 14 years old. My brother, Grant, who is a twin, has Mitochondrial Disease. For 2 years, I've watched my brother get sick, and I couldn't do anything to help him. I couldn't really talk to my friends about it because none of them have ever heard about Mito, and I hated going through the explanation every time. Even in school, we spent a week talking about what Mitochondria do, but the teacher had never heard of Mitochondrial Disease.
I felt the need to do something to help and decided to start a Facebook page to explain Mito in a way kids like me could understand it… something I could tell the people I know to read so I didn't have to keep explaining it…. and a way to spread awareness about Mito, in hopes that more people knowing about it will help a cure come sooner.
I started by posting the link and asking other people to do the same. In one week, I had over 6000 people like the page. That means 6000 people might have learned something about Mito. This is much more than I ever expected. We are now doing fundraisers and Grant has a research fund set up through the UMDF. I never wanted to be the focus of this page, and I am glad to say that I don’t think I am. The page is spreading because raising a cure for Mitochondrial Disease is worth it.
A local news affiliate covered Delaney's creation of Wish GRANTed.
I felt the need to do something to help and decided to start a Facebook page to explain Mito in a way kids like me could understand it… something I could tell the people I know to read so I didn't have to keep explaining it…. and a way to spread awareness about Mito, in hopes that more people knowing about it will help a cure come sooner.
I started by posting the link and asking other people to do the same. In one week, I had over 6000 people like the page. That means 6000 people might have learned something about Mito. This is much more than I ever expected. We are now doing fundraisers and Grant has a research fund set up through the UMDF. I never wanted to be the focus of this page, and I am glad to say that I don’t think I am. The page is spreading because raising a cure for Mitochondrial Disease is worth it.
A local news affiliate covered Delaney's creation of Wish GRANTed.
