The Donkey and the Cart

How A Father's Grief Became a Medical Movement

by Charles A. Mohan Jr.

The Donkey and the Cart is a powerful, inspirational memoir about the agonizing loss of a child to a mysterious mitochondrial disease and the birth of a grassroots foundation that goes on to galvanize clinical research and groundbreaking therapies.

In 1990, eleven-year-old Gina Mohan complained of a tummy ache. Hours later, she was rushed to the ER with an array of terrifying, bewildering symptoms. For the next three and a half years, her parents sought out top specialists across the nation. Tragically, the answer they repeatedly received was one no parent can easily accept.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

Gina’s father, Chuck Mohan, refused to give up. In his basement, he created The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation with the help of so many volunteers. He became the unifying force in an eventual global effort that gave legitimacy to physicians and scientists who wanted to focus their careers, causes, and therapeutic opportunities on the many disorders that variably involve every organ, rendering them incapable of properly making energy. So far, they have raised millions of dollars dedicated to research.

Thirty years later, mitochondrial diseases and disorders are no longer so mysterious. UMDF now has affiliates in the US, Canada, Australia, Italy, and beyond, and the first FDA-approved therapy for mitochondrial disease was granted in 2025.

Blending a father’s diary, a family’s medical odyssey, and the creation of a national nonprofit, The Donkey and the Cart is a story of grief transformed into purpose and proof that ordinary people can change the course of modern medicine.