Andrew Coats’  daughter Harriet died when she was three months old. 

Mr Coats plans to ride for 30 days - covering 4500 kilometres from Hervey Bay to Broome.

Harriet was born in November 2013, and was pronounced profoundly deaf, but otherwise, healthy. 

Mr Coats said they suspected something was wrong. 

“At about two and a half months, we took her to the doctors to run test,”  he said.

“Every test they did kept coming back negative.

“Eventually, my wife had to take her to the emergency ward.” Harriet was flown to Princess Margaret Hospital, in Perth, where she was diagnosed with Mitochondrial disease, an inherited chronic illness that can present at birth or develop later. Mitochondria are cells that provide the body with more than 90 per cent of the energy it needs to sustain life. When they do not work properly the cells begin to die, leading to organ failure.  

It is estimated 1 in 4000 people has the disease. 

The disorder is progressive and has no cure. 

Mr Coats said Harriet become progressively more exhausted and in March 2014 she passed away in his arms. 

More than a year later, the family still feels the loss, but were trying to raise more awareness for a disease not easily diagnosed. 

“I want to be in control of something so I set my own goal for 30 days,” Mr Coats said. 

“We are still in shock and will probably be for a while still.” 

In the past year, Mr Coats said the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation helped the Coats family so he wanted to give back to the foundation.   

“We would like to really do something for the foundation that try and find a cure for the disease and help families,” he said. 

To date, Mr Coats has raised more than $12,500, but he was way off his goal of $20,000. 

He is plans to travel through Mount Isa on August 27, then north-west through Camooweal and across the border with the Northern Territory. 

■For more information about Harriet or to donate visit www.myrideforharriet.com.