JACKSON, MI – Most parents marvel at watching their first child take his or her first unsteady steps.

For Joshua and Sierra Buffum of Jackson, it took four-and-a-half years to happen. And it was something they weren’t sure their son Carter would ever be able to do.

“It’s been really uplifting for us and our family to watch Carter do stuff like this that the doctors said he might never do,” Joshua Buffum said. “It gives us hope that he will break through more barriers. We’re pretty emotional about it.”

Carter Buffum has mitochondrial disease.

Carter Buffum greets his dad, Joshua, through a window in their Jackson home on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. Carter has mitochondrial disease, which has resulted in a loss of motor control, cognitive impairment and cerebral palsy. Doctors have told his parents, Sierra and Joshua, that he would never walk. However, Carter is proving them wrong as he has started pulling himself up on furniture and window sills and taking some steps. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Mitochondria are contained in all cells except red blood cells and are responsible for creating the energy necessary to support life and sustain growth. In Carter’s case, diseased mitochondria have resulted in a loss of motor control and resulted in cognitive impairment, cerebral palsy, seizures and gastro-intestinal disorders.

Making people aware of Carter’s situation and raising money for research into a cure for their son’s disease are top priorities for the Buffums, who have established the Carter Buffum Fund to benefit mitochondrial disease research at Ann Arbor’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

A public party that took place on Carter's fourth birthday on Jan. 20 raised about $2,500, Sierra Buffum said. A fundraising walk-a-thon is being planned for next spring, she said.

Children diagnosed with mitochondrial disease before age 5 usually do not live into their 20s, Sierra Buffum said. There also is no treatment and no cure, she said, so every accomplishment and achievement from Carter as a blessing.

“We are definitely more hopeful,” Sierra Buffum said. “We hope we keep seeing this kind of progress.”

In January, Carter was starting to scoot across the floor by himself and take some steps with a large walker. Within the last couple of weeks, he’s begun to pull himself up to a windowsill at home and hold on while he takes a few steps to another window.

“His balance isn’t quite there yet, but we’re hoping that will progress,” Sierra Buffum said. “He’s sleeping better because he’s wearing himself out more. And because he’s more active, he has his first boo-boos in four-and-a-half years.”

Carter attends the Jackson County Intermediate School District’s Lyle A. Torrant Center. Sarah Taylor, his teacher, said she also has seen gains in Carter’s abilities.

“Besides gains in his motor ability, Carter is showing more interest in toys and using his hands more in reaching for things,” she said. “His eating also has really improved.”

Determination, Taylor said, is one of Carter’s biggest assets.

“He’s so determined to do what he wants to do and that helps his progress,” she said. “That kind of determination is something you can’t teach. He’s an awesome little boy.”

Sierra Buffum shares Carter's story at mitowarriorsmomma.blogspot.com and on a Facebook Page called Raising Carter.

“It was pretty much a miracle that he could stand up,” she said. “We hope that Carter’s successes will motivate other families who have children with this disease to stay hopeful.”