Jayden Long, Age 7
Nampa, ID

Home and Family

Jayden lives at home with his mom and dad, a dog, 3 Koi fish, 1 rainbow shark, and 1 sucker fish.

Diagnosis

Jayden was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy at the age of 3, shortly after his younger brother Jaxon passed away. The main problems associated with mitochondrial disease — low energy, free radical production and lactic acidosis — can result in a variety of symptoms in many different organs of the body.

School

Jayden excels at Math and Reading. He enjoys getting lost in books and hanging out with his friends.

Interests

Jayden loves hamming it up and being the center of attention. He plays basketball and wants to start dance classes even though he struggles with physical activities. He loves skylanders video game because he can play with his buddies and not feel different. He is incredibly close with his cousins and loves to spend his spare time with them.

MDA Activities

Jayden’s favorite week of the year is MDA summer camp. 2015 will be his 3rd year at camp. He enjoys getting a big team together for the walk and raising money to help send him and other kids to MDA camp. Jayden loves collecting cookies and baked goods from the community so he can deliver them to the firefighters on Christmas because he doesn’t think it’s fair that they don’t get to spend time with their families on Christmas. Another thing he has come to love is challenging the firefighters at the PFFI annual meeting every year, if they don’t have their coin on them; they owe him a soda (which he doesn’t get at home).