Every 30 minutes, a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease by the age of 10.

This week, globally, is Mitochondrial awareness week. People all over the world are dawning green, putting green lights up on their house and much more, all in support of mitochondrial awareness.

The mitochondria in the cells throughout our bodies are responsible for creating 90% of the energy needed to sustain life and support organ function. When mitochondria malfunction, organs start to fail, people get sick, and can even die.

Each year, thousands children in North America are born with a mitochondrial disease. Exact numbers of children and adults suffering from mitochondrial disease are hard to determine because so many people who suffer from the disease are frequently misdiagnosed. Many are misdiagnosed with atypical cerebral palsy, various seizure disorders, childhood diseases and diseases of aging. Still others aren’t diagnosed until after death.

The parts of the body, such as the heart, brain, muscles and lungs, requiring the greatest amounts of energy are the most affected by mitochondrial disease.

Cathy and Scott Bradford's daughter Maren has Leigh's disease, directly caused by mitochondrial disease.

Maren Bradford rocking her green shirt.

Maren's mother Cathy said it's a very hard disease to detect.

"It's so hard to diagnose because so many things about mitochondrial disease affect multiple systems in the body. So getting a diagnosis can be quite troublesome because it's a little bit here and a little bit there, and the combination of all of them together that ends up wreaking havoc on the full body."

Scott Bradford said you're fortunate to even get a diagnosis.

"The harder part about is a lot of the times a child will pass before they're actually diagnosed just because it is so hard to diagnose and it's a fatal disease at a young age. If you do get a diagnosis I would say you're very fortunate."

Leigh's disease is a gene mutation, or genetic condition. It lays dormant until something triggers it to respond and Maren was born with it.

"Different types are different", said Cathy. "In our situation it's between the two of us that we create this mutation. But not all of them are like that. Some of them won't show up in a gene, others can just be a sickness will trigger something and their body just changes and they get it."

There is currently no cure for Leigh's disease.

"It's important to be your own advocate", said Cathy, "because it's hard, and it's so rare. It's one of those things that you have to stand your ground when you know something is wrong. We really just need more research. There is the UMDF. It's a world organization that people can donate to."

Facing a diagnosis such as this, Scott said support is really an important piece of the story.

"We've been really fortunate that we've had an overwhelming support from our community, and friends and family all across Canada and the States. We're very lucky on our scale, because of the support we've been given. But if you didn't have that, there's really nothing. We have a facebook group with Leigh's disease with other parents and there's 250 people on it in the world. It's pretty rare and there isn't a lot of outreach. Our doctor in Saskatchewan, we were the first case she ever had of it, so it's rare. We want to give it to other people because not everybody has the same overwhelming support that we've had. The best way to do it is to talk about it, and then the more people that are aware, the more people know, the more people that can help."

Go to United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation's website for more information and to donate to the cause.