Thank you Frederik of Switzerland for sharing your story.
At 14 years old, Frederik went from playing football, racing down ski slopes, and eating with friends to finding himself struggling to walk or even stand, unable to digest any food and inexplicably exhausted all the time. After months of doctor visits and scary misdiagnoses, Frederik was finally diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, a genetic and degenerative disorder that robs the body’s cells of energy, causing the organ dysfunction and failure that Frederik had been experiencing. Frederik’s particular disease is due to mutations of his PolG gene.
As an adolescent, when Frederik and others like him, should be riding the exciting rollercoaster of teenage life, among a myriad of other challenges, they are instead facing degeneration and the possibility of losing their ability to walk, eat and see. The worst thing is that they are informed that there are currently no effective treatments and no cure. After years in the hospital, Frederik and his family have decided to concentrate all of their efforts on finding treatments and ultimately a cure for all who suffer from PolG mitochondrial disorders by founding The PolG Foundation. With courage and creativity, Frederik rises above the great challenges of his disease and actively leads the creative design of the foundation’s digital presence.
September 2022
