Huddersfield people took part in a Santa dash which has raised around £1,000 for a Calderdale-based charity which could help millions of people facing serious and terminal illnesses.
The event at Stainland Cricket Club near Outlane featured 1.5k and 5k courses and was raising money for My Mito Mission which has its headquarters in Elland and operates UK-wide.
Christine Beal, of Rastrick, co-founded My Mito Mission after losing her daughter, Emma, to the little known condition mitochondrial disease aged just 28.
It’s a complex and, so far, incurable illness, but essentially mitochondrial are like little battery packs inside every cell in the body converting food into energy and if they don’t work properly they can have a major impact on people’s main organs, health and basic wellbeing.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is now known to be a factor in some of the most common and well-known medical conditions and diseases such as cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, strokes, sepsis, diabetes, epilepsy and even Covid-19.
Christine said: “Mitochondrial disease is incurable and terribly unforgiving. We are currently supporting a family who face losing their two-year-old daughter before Christmas, among many others.
“This is why research into mitochondrial disease is critical. It can help in the treatment and research for many other conditions which is why we say that Mitochondrial research matters to millions. The more money we can put into mitochondrial research, the more a lot of other conditions could benefit.”
The charity has an unusual way of operating in that people who suffer from the condition set up their own Mito Missions to raise awareness and fundraising for the condition and Huddersfield Hub has featured two cases from the town recently.
One is dad-of-two Eddie Wall from Shepley who is a bespoke tailor and discovered he had the condition by sheer chance.
Why Eddie’s rare medical condition means he’s a man with a mission – Huddersfield Hub
The other are grandparents Jane and Jason Bates from Salendine Nook whose granddaughter Ella Bates was born with Pearson Syndrome, an incredibly rare mitochondrial disease which affects only 100 people worldwide, and, sadly, has a life expectancy of only three to five years.
Around one in 5,000 people suffer from the condition – that’s around 13,500 across the UK – which makes mitochondrial disease one of the most common genetic illnesses.
The Santa Dash was sponsored by specialist innovative materials company Addev Materials in Holywell Green.
Find out more on the My Mito Mission website at https://www.mymitomission.uk
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
