Northern Beaches’ Bloody Long Walk 2024
Northern Beaches’ Bloody Long Walk to beat mitochondrial disease!
Over 1,800 participants will walk 35km, clocking up nearly 47,000 steps each, to raise funds and awareness for Mito Foundation and its goal to end mitochondrial disease (mito). Mito is a debilitating, potentially fatal, genetic disorder that robs the body’s cells of the energy they need to function properly. Individuals and teams will aim to raise over $330,000 for the cause.
Setting off at 6:30am on Sunday 4 August from Palm Beach, The Bloody Long Walk participants will walk for over 7 hours along the coastline, before finishing at Manly Promenade.
Margie and Doug Lingard from Mona Vale are walking their ninth Bloody Long Walk in memory of their daughter Rose who died from mito in 2017.
Her death followed that of her brother Alex more than 30 years earlier to “an unknown illness’’.
“After a phone call to one of Alex’s neurologists we were told that he had most likely died from a mitochondrial disease. It was the first time we had heard the word, and when we Googled it our hearts sank … an incurable illness for which there wasn’t even any treatment”, Margie Lingard says.
“It broke our hearts to see her struggling but it’s also what motivated us then to find a cure for Rose, and still motivates us to find a cure for every other sufferer.”
So far the team has already raised more than $10,000.
Mito Foundation CEO Sean Murray said the event is part of a nationwide initiative supporting families affected by mito.
“The Lingard’s story is one of many, as families across Australia face the harsh impact of mito. The reality is that around 70 Aussie kids born in the next year will develop a life-threatening form of mito — that’s one baby born every 6 days. Sadly, most children diagnosed with mito die in the first 5 years of life.” Mr Murray said.
“Our ambition is to prevent as many children as possible from suffering from this life-threatening disease and to reduce the burden of mito on families and the community.”
