The lighting on Clacton Pier has gone green this week to highlight a
disease following a special request from a customer.
Amanda Riley’s daughter, Poppy, suffers from Global Mitochondrial Disease
(Mito), a condition which affects one in 5,000 people.
The national campaign runs from September 15 to 21 and is part of an
awareness week which aims to both educate and fundraise.
Nigel Brown, Clacton Pier’s Communications Manager, said that Amanda got
in touch after learning that the attraction went pink for organ donor week.
“We were more than happy to help and back a campaign that highlights a
condition that can affect the brain, heart, muscles and lungs,” he said.
“It can result in a number of problems such as seizures, swallowing
difficulties, blindness, deafness, heart and kidney issues, diabetes and liver
failure.
“It is something that Amanda, Poppy and their family have to deal with
every day, and this is our way of supporting them.”
Mito is not well-known but is the second most commonly diagnosed serious
genetic disease after Cystic Fibrosis.
Cells cannot function properly without healthy mitochondria, which
generate about 90 per cent of the energy we need to live.
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