Angelina Rossi Burrow

On May 22th 2018, we received news that changed our lives forever. After multiple tests done, we were informed that our beautiful baby girl was being diagnosed with Leigh Syndrome, a Mitochondrial Disease. At first, we did not know how to take this information. We did not know what Leigh Syndrome was, let alone a Mitochondrial Disease. We looked both up on the internet, but it was not until our Pediatrician called us in that we fully grasped the severity of the diagnosis. Angelina was terminal. Our perfect, happy, seemingly healthy baby girl would possibly only live to be 2-3 years old.

Angelina’s diagnosis is rare, yet mitochondrial disease are not. Every 30 minutes a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease and only half will live past their 10th birthday. There is no cure for Mito and it takes more lives than cancer.

While Angie was alive, we put one foot in front of the other. We would wake up smiling and laughing, we would sing songs and dance in the kitchen, and make fools out of ourselves not caring who may be watching. We lived each day like it was all of our last.

Angie went in the hospital the evening of 16 March 2019 because she had thrown up. Anything outside of what was normal we were told to go to the emergency room. From that moment on her health declined and three weeks later her wings grew. We lost our girl 3 April 2019.

We wish more than anything to have her still with us. Every day we think about what life would be like, to hear her laugh, to watch her grow, to be the family we dreamed of. We pray that a cure is around the corner for kids like her.