Hello, I’m Hazel. I live in Darlington, with my husband who I married in 2014, Mark.
Up until a few years ago, nobody in our family had any idea we were affected by mitochondrial disease. In fact, like many people, we’d not even heard of it. Now, we know that it’s in at least four generations of our family.
It was my nana (pictured above) who was first diagnosed several years ago. My mum was already suffering from a range of challenging health conditions including arthritis, scoliosis and osteoporosis. She got tested following her own mum’s diagnosis. Sure enough, mum was affected too, and we now know that her muscle weakness and ptosis (drooping eyelids) is down to mito. We’re not sure how much it’s behind everything else, but my mum really struggles day-to-day now and I’m her full-time carer. I decided to be tested in 2020 and was told I’m also affected and have just started with fatigue symptoms.
We’re all under specialists in Newcastle. Maybe later I’ll have a muscle biopsy to find out more. People can be impacted differently even with the same gene, so it’s not straight forward and can still leave lots of questions unanswered. Other family members have been tested too but some have understandably decided against it.
But I prefer to focus on staying positive and looking after my family and myself as best I can.
I’m step-mum to Kien, Robin, Conner & Alfie and a devoted auntie to Kyle, Katie and Oliver-Lee and have two cats – Cookie and Dexter. My hobbies are crafting, reading (fiction by Danielle Steele, Lesley Pearse and Virginia Andrews being favourites), cooking, playing board games with the family and sometimes a bit of gaming.
… and hopes of treatments and a cure for our family and everyone affected. I’m planning to use my crafting skills to raise some funds for mito research..
The more we can raise for research, the more hopeful we can all be for a cure – not only for mito – but for other illnesses that are linked to it too.
Any funds raised by Hazel’s mission goes to My Mito Mission’s central funds to be granted towards research and support projects to benefit everyone affected by mito.
Spreading the word, following, sharing, as well as donating and raising funds are all really helpful and valued. From running a race to hosting a bake sale, homing a collecting can to giving out Hazel’s Mito Mission leaflets – there are so many ways in which you can get involved.
If you’d simply like to donate to Hazel’s mission, choose a way that suits you below.
Regular donations are the most powerful way to support our vital work, allowing us as a small, high-energy charity to plan and build from a strong foundation.
We need a 1000 strong team of amazing people to donate any amount from just £2 a month. 1000 is a lot, but – one by one – we know that we can reach it. Find out more here.
For any other amount or frequency (eg weekly, quarterly, annual), simply contact us
We’d love your support with our fundraising… and we can provide supporting materials. Just ask!
Fundraise and shop!
Other ways you can support us
Visit our Support Us page for more inspiration!
