Attributions

Image Credit & Attribution

MitoCanada uses images, illustrations, icons, and design elements across our website to help make information more welcoming, accessible, and engaging for our community.

Some of the images and design elements used on this website have been created or adapted through Canva using MitoCanada’s Canva Pro account. Canva’s licensing terms allow licensed users to use eligible Canva content in their designs, subject to Canva’s Content License Agreement and related terms.

Where ever possible, MitoCanada uses original photography, partner-provided images, publicly available media, and images shared with permission by members of our community.

We make every effort to use images responsibly and in accordance with applicable licensing terms, permissions, and attribution requirements. If an image requires attribution, we will provide credit on this page, directly near the image, or in another appropriate location.

Community and Original Photography

MitoCanada values the use of authentic images that reflect the community we serve. Where possible, we use original photography or photos shared directly by community members, families, volunteers, partners, and event participants with permission.

These images help us represent the lived experiences, relationships, and community connections at the heart of our work.

Questions About Image Use

If you are a rights holder and believe an image on our website has been used incorrectly, please contact us so we can review the concern promptly.

Please include:

the webpage URL where the image appears
a screenshot or description of the image
information about the claimed rights holder
any relevant licensing or ownership details

We take image rights seriously and will review concerns in good faith. Where appropriate, we will update attribution, provide additional licensing information, replace the image, or remove it.

Website Attribution

Research

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Education

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Image of woman preparing healthy meal ©fcafotodigital from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com
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Image of man taking supplements ©Jayson_lys from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com
Image of meal prep containers salmon ©carlofranco from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com
Image of woman eating granola bar ©Africa Images via Canva.com
Image of nutritionist consulting on healthy food choices ©Nuttopong punna from nuttapong punna’s images via Canva.com
Image of couple buying online at home ©nortonrsx from Getty Images via Canva.com
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Image of happy girl eating vegetables ©oksun70 from Getty Images via Canva.com
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Support

Image of newborn baby ©Traida from Getty Images via Canva.com
Image of newborn baby first bath ©timnewman from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com
Image of happy family portriat ©triloks from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com

Content Use & Collaboration

Our Commitment to Stewardship

At MitoCanada, the stories, images, and resources we share are grounded in the lived experiences of individuals and families, and in collaboration with clinicians and researchers across Canada and beyond.

This content is shared with us through trust and partnership. We carry a responsibility to ensure it is used with care, respect, and integrity.

We are stewards of the content entrusted to us, whether it reflects a personal story, a research partnership, or an educational resource.

This means:

Respecting how stories and contributions are shared and represented
Ensuring individuals, families, and collaborators remain informed about how content is used
Protecting the context, voice, and intent behind each contribution
Upholding accuracy and integrity in research-informed content

This approach is central to how we honour the generosity and collaboration of our community and partners.

Scope of Content

This guidance applies to all MitoCanada content, including but not limited to:

Faces of Mito and other patient storytelling initiatives (e.g., 15 Stories for 15 Years)
MitoInsights and research translation content developed with researcher partners
Educational resources, guides, and infographics
Images, graphics, and digital assets shared across our platforms

Use of MitoCanada Content

All MitoCanada content is the property of MitoCanada and/or its contributors and collaborators and is protected by copyright.

Content may not be:

Reproduced, adapted, or modified without written permission from MitoCanada
Rebranded or presented as originating from another organization
Shared publicly without appropriate attribution and prior approval

Requesting Permission

We welcome opportunities to collaborate and amplify community voices and research in a way that is thoughtful and respectful.

If you are interested in sharing or using MitoCanada content, please contact us in advance. This allows us to:

Confirm consent with individuals and families, where applicable
Align with research partners on appropriate use and representation
Ensure content is shared accurately, respectfully, and in the right context

To start a conversation, please contact: communications@mitocanada.org

Request Permission

Our Approach to Collaboration

We believe collaboration strengthens awareness, education, and impact across the mitochondrial disease community.

Meaningful collaboration is built on:

Transparency and open communication
Respect for ownership, contribution, and consent
A shared commitment to centring patient and family voices
Integrity in representing research and lived experience

We are always open to working together in ways that align with these values.

A Note on Trust

Every story, insight, and resource shared through MitoCanada reflects a contribution from someone who has placed their trust in us.

Protecting that trust is not only a responsibility, it is a commitment we uphold in every partnership, every collaboration, and every piece of content we share.

MitoRevolution Community Interest Form

Thank you for your interest in MitoRevolution

This initiative brings together patient, family and community perspectives across a wide range of health areas, including primary mitochondrial disease, to help inform MitoRevolution’s research, engagement and education efforts.

We welcome individuals with lived experience, caregivers, and advocates from diverse communities. Please share a few details below so we can better understand your interest and how you’d like to connect with us and get involved.

Privacy note: The information you provide will be used by MitoCanada and the MitoRevolution team to share engagement opportunities with you, based on your expressed interest. Your information will be handled in accordance with applicable privacy standards, including the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA).

Meet Alyson

Meet Louise

Hi. I’m Louise, and I live in Mississauga, Ontario.

I love volunteering on Patient and Family Advisory Committees for Trillium Health Partners, running an annual charity event for MitoCanada, working on my coin collection, and doing aquafit. My faith, loving family and friends are all important to me. I feel blessed that my 2 adult children are unaffected by mito. They have all rallied around me, encouraging me, helping me, and picking me up on those low days. I have an amazing support system!

I am so overjoyed to have MitoCanada in my life for many reasons. I believe in the work they do to help raise awareness and funds for research and education. This organization understands what I’m going through and how hard life gets sometimes. I have a personal connection with quite a few members of the board of directors, and I cherish them.

In 2015, I participated in a walk for mito and it hit me that I was the only one walking the 2.5km who had mito. Others were either being pushed in a wheelchair, or family members were walking in memory of their loved ones. When I finally finished, I was 40 min behind everyone else, and all the finishers were still there to cheer me on. The encouragement was so inspiring!

I can’t walk that distance now; however, after that year, I decided to raise awareness in my own community. I started Walk’nRoll 4 Mito in 2015 because it gives me a purpose to focus on what I can do, and I’m excited to see that it has since gone national. The support I have received from MitoCanada has been encouraging and kept me going, especially during the tough times. I want to show that doing something is better than nothing, and the more you push yourself, the better you will feel. Exercise is medicine, especially with mito disorders. Even though I can’t walk 2.5 km, I do what I can. I find that an hour in the water doing aquafit is most beneficial to me.

In 2015, when I started the Walk’nRoll, my sister Rita (who also had mito) was being pushed in a wheelchair. Rita lost her battle to mito and since 2018, the walk has been in memory of Rita and all the ones we have lost too soon to this disease.

I’m passionate about raising awareness and funds for research because it would have made a difference in my life and my sister Rita’s. I began having symptoms at the age of 8 but was not correctly diagnosed with mito until I was 18 years old. There is a huge advantage with early testing, diagnosis and education.

My vision for MitoCanada is that we would be able to get an early diagnosis so treatment can begin right away, to continue with mitochondrial transplantation research and testing and eventually find a cure.

As for me, I’ll keep fighting. I know that I have mito, but mito does not have me

Meet Hazel

Meet Hazel

My name is Hazel Currie, and I’m proud to be involved as a MitoAmbassador. Supporting Canadians living with mito diseases is such important work and so needed. I am active with MitoCanada, supporting the organization through various fundraising and educational events, including “Hazel’s Light Up for Mito” annual walk, Mermaids for Mito, and MitoSpin in my hometown of Victoria, British Columbia.

I believe that creating connections are key to a healthy and vibrant community. As a professional communicator in my work, I see first-hand the rewards of meaningful engagement and relationship building.

I am diagnosed with the ultra-rare mitochondrial disease, MNGIE (mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy). I want to educate and share with others about mito diseases, be part of creating awareness, and hopefully find better treatments and a cure. There are days I just want to curse MNGIE & its effects.

My vision is finding other MNGIE patients in Canada and around the world, so those with rare diseases know they are not alone.

I aim to lead an active lifestyle, embracing challenging hikes and walks with my husband and sons. I also enjoy cooking, reading, doing ocean dips at the beach year-round (rain, shine, or snow!), and hanging out with my affectionate dog and cat.

Meet Keith

Meet Kailey

Meet CindyLynn

Meghan Teague

Turning Personal Loss into Awareness for PPA2 Deficiency

Meghan Teague is a creative young woman with a close-knit family and a dynamic career. The 27-year-old, who lives in Oakville, Ont., works in event production as an audio-visual technician. “My job takes me all over Canada,” she says. “I get to work with all sorts of amazing people and in great locations.”

In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors and all things creative. “I do a lot of hiking, biking, skiing, and running,” she says. “I also like to draw and paint, make my own clothes, and play piano and guitar.”

But behind her active lifestyle is a rare mitochondrial disease few people have heard of.

The children's mysterious symptoms

Growing up, the Teague family was close. Meghan and her three brothers (two older, one younger) were active kids, spending plenty of time together biking, playing street hockey, and going to the park to play catch. “My siblings and I have always been really close,” says Meghan. “I would consider them my closest friends.”

From bike adventures with their dad to painting and playing the piano with their mom, the Teague children were supported in their athletic pursuits and encouraged in their creativity. But behind their idyllic upbringing, a medical mystery was brewing.

“Throughout childhood, my siblings and I had very negative reactions to medications and illnesses, from cough syrups and dental procedures to high fevers and viruses,” says Meghan. “We began to keep track of things ourselves, to pinpoint what caused us issues.”

At age six, after surgery for a broken arm, Meghan reacted badly to the anaesthetic and had trouble walking, sore muscles, chest pain, and vision issues for months. Doctors couldn’t figure out why. A few years later, one of her older brothers became seriously ill after consuming a small amount of alcohol. Doctors couldn’t explain the reaction, but Meghan’s mother suspected the incidents might be connected and urged her daughter to avoid alcohol as a precaution. Looking back now, Meghan believes her mother’s intuition may have saved her life.

In her second year of university, a new batch of mysterious symptoms appeared after she had experienced a viral illness and a concussion from falling off her bike: weakness, difficulty climbing the stairs, and chest and muscle pain that woke her up at night. Alarmed, Meghan sought medical advice but was told she had nothing to worry about. “After a few months I started to feel more like myself again, but I knew deep down that something wasn’t right,” she says.

Heartbreak, and then answers

Nearly a decade after her older brother’s incident, Meghan’s youngest brother Ben passed away at age 17 after consuming a small amount of alcohol. “It was devastating for our family,” says Meghan. “We were left with a piece of us missing.”

Medical professionals couldn’t find an explanation for his death. “We again had no answers as to why this was happening,” says Meghan.

After Ben’s death, their mother pushed for answers for years. Finally, after six years, doctors tested tissue from Ben and found genes consistent with PPA2 deficiency, a rare mitochondrial disease that affects how the body produces energy. “That’s when my other siblings and I were all genetically tested and found positive for PPA2 deficiency as well,” says Meghan. “Before that point, PPA2 wasn’t well-known in Canada, so our samples had to be sent to the U.S. to be tested. I was 26 years old when I was diagnosed, and it was 20 years after my first symptoms.”

Living with PPA2 deficiency

PPA2 deficiency places individuals at increased risk of serious heart-related complications, including sudden-onset heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) and weakening of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), particularly when the body is under stress. Muscle weakness and neurologic symptoms, such as seizures or developmental challenges, are also sometimes present. Triggers can include infections or viruses, fever, dehydration, intense physical stress, and alcohol consumption. “An accumulation of these triggers in PPA2 patients has been shown to cause sudden cardiac arrest,” says Meghan.

Over the years, she and her brothers have figured out what works best for them when it comes to managing the disease. “We’ve found healing primarily through rest and lots of fluids,” says Meghan. They’ve also learned to avoid triggers, rest fully when they’re sick or injured, and undergo regular cardiac monitoring.

Alcohol has been one of the most difficult triggers to avoid. “Alcohol could be lethal for me, or at the very least cause permanent heart damage,” says Meghan. “And many medications contain alcohol. I’ve tried to explain this to doctors and pharmacists, but sometimes they’re not very understanding. The condition is so uncommon.”

Avoiding alcohol socially has also been a challenge. “Because of the culture around drinking, even going to events or restaurants can be risky for me,” says Meghan. “Many people have misunderstood me and tried to pressure me to drink.”

Living with PPA2 deficiency has meant confronting a stark new reality. “Being diagnosed with a condition that isn’t well-known has caused me a lot of anxiety,” says Meghan. “I hate feeling like my future is unknown and out of my control. The little information available about this condition is bleak, and the death rate for PPA2 deficiency is very high. It’s hard to stay positive about it all.”

Honouring Ben's memory

As Meghan does her best to move forward carrying a new weight on her shoulders, she also makes sure to honour the past and her youngest brother’s memory.

“My little brother was an amazing person and it hurts me to know that people can’t meet him now,” she says. “Ben had a huge heart and was kind to everyone he met. He went out of his way to make things easier for other people. That’s just the type of person he was. Whether it was helping our grandma with her physiotherapy exercises, helping our dad fix the family car, or helping me practise for my driving test, he was always there for the people he cared about.”

Meghan shares that Ben did well in school and was a skilled defenceman in hockey. “He was looking forward to university and dreamed of becoming an engineer,” she says. “At just 13, he started his own business, Bengines, doing small engine repairs. People would travel from all over to have him fix their lawnmower or snowblower, and everything he was doing was self-taught.”

His life was tragically cut short by a hidden disease that few people understood. “Ben had so much potential and it breaks my heart that he didn’t have the chance to fulfill his dreams,” says Meghan. “Nobody should have to lose their life over something like this.”

Advocating for better awareness and screening

Meghan looks back at the years of mysterious health issues with no answers from a new perspective since her diagnosis. “I believe the MitoCommunity really needs to be listened to and their symptoms seriously considered by medical professionals,” she says. “We don’t need to be made fun of by doctors for having symptoms that they don’t understand. We don’t need our symptoms to be downplayed or minimized. It shouldn’t take someone’s death to be taken seriously.”

She encourages others to advocate for themselves and to stand up if they know something’s wrong.

Meghan also advocates for better screening of PPA2 deficiency. “I hope one day we’ll have preconception screening for this condition,” she says. “It’s especially dangerous for infants and young children, and the heart damage sustained can affect them for the rest of their lives. Many families across the globe have already suffered the loss of multiple children and babies to this disease. Preconception screening could help better prepare families and healthcare professionals from the start.”

Meghan was finally diagnosed after two decades of symptoms, but by then it was too late for Ben. “I hope that telling my story might help another family out there that recognizes these symptoms in themselves,” she says. “Most people have never heard of PPA2 deficiency. More awareness of it may save someone like my little brother.”

DOWNLOAD MEGHAN TEAGUE’S STORY

About Kate Murray

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