Rebecca Smith

We’re Walking for Our Son, Ziggy

This year, we’re walking 35km in the Bloody Long Walk – Brisbane to raise awareness and funds for the Mito Foundation. We’re doing it for our beautiful three-year-old son, Ziggy, who lives with an extremely rare mitochondrial disease called Pearson Syndrome.

Pearson Syndrome has already impacted Ziggy’s bone marrow, pancreas, and gut. He struggles daily to get the calories he needs just to grow and thrive like other kids his age. Eating, something most take for granted, is one of his biggest challenges. Yet through it all, Ziggy remains strong, cheeky, and full of love — our little fighter.

This is a cruel and unpredictable disease. Because mito affects multiple systems and is so rare, there’s very little known about how it will progress. We live with the constant fear of what might come next.

But Ziggy is still here. Still smiling. Still showing us what resilience looks like.

We’re walking not just for him, but for every child and family living with mito. With more research, better treatments, and greater awareness, we can bring hope to a future that right now feels very uncertain.

Please consider supporting us. Every dollar brings us closer to answers, and every step we take is for Ziggy.