Mom Seeking Help By Sharing Story of Dying Daughter, Mila

Guest Post from Julia Vitarello – Mila’s mommy

There’s no other way to put it—my 6-year-old daughter, Mila, is dying. I lie by her side every night when she sleeps and my heart bleeds. My face burns from the tears.

Mila could be your child. She splashed in the pool, begged for chocolate ice cream, and sang her favorite songs. She rode bikes. She skied. But at 4 years old, she started to fall over, to bump into things. She pulled books in close, got stuck on words. She was finally diagnosed with Batten Disease, a rare genetic condition that robs normal children of everything. They end up bedridden, on a feeding tube, with seizures, and cognitively impaired. There is no cure.

We were given no hope. But we discovered gene therapy has STOPPED and even reversed diseases like Batten. Parents of children in recent trials are ecstatic by the improvements they are seeing. Mila and children with her type of Batten deserve the same chance!

So we fought day and night and raised nearly $1M to put together a gene therapy trial—and it’s finally going to happen! HOWEVER, we need to raise an additional $1M by September or everything stops. Hope is lost for Mila and all children like her.  

To SUPPORT Mila and for more details go to: gofundme.com/savingmila

Julia Vitarello – Mila’s mommy

Founder + President, Mila’s Miracle Foundation

For more information about Batten , go to StopBatten.org.

*Photo and logo courtesy of Julia Vitarello.