ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Thomas Zachos ’17

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Thomas Zachos ’17

By Colin Darling ’17, Alumni Relations Coordinator

“Positivity showers others with possibility.”

Thomas Zachos openly describes his life at HTS as a rollercoaster. When he arrived, his first challenge as an active kid was sitting still in class. He lived to play sports and was on every team he could try out for until his Senior School years when a new set of challenges surfaced: his body began failing him.

Aged 14, Thomas suffered what would be the first of many seizures. Victoria ’20, his younger sister, remembers being terrified. His subsequent HTS years were spent juggling classes and doctor’s appointments as daily tasks like walking and writing became a struggle. By Grade 10, he had lost his ability to play on sports teams and eat in the dining hall after being diagnosed with celiac disease.

When many of his organs and muscles lost partial functionality, Thomas was forced to delay his graduation. Yet, despite the challenges, he remembers his time at HTS fondly. “The whole community was amazing. Especially for me who was struggling,” he says. His teachers and the Student Success team accommodated him in any way possible, even providing the ability to take tests on a whiteboard to make writing less taxing.

In 2018, Thomas finally received a diagnosis. From birth, all three Zachos siblings were born with a mutation in their mitochondrial DNA that prevents the mitochondria in a percentage of their cells from turning sugar and oxygen into energy properly. Thomas was diagnosed with a specific subset of mitochondrial disease called MERRF—myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibers—which affects his whole body. The rare disease tends to get worse during adolescence because of the new energy demands associated with puberty.

Upon diagnosis, Thomas decided to go ahead and try university, but quickly realized that it was impossible given his energy levels. He was forced to leave and take his disease more seriously, leading to a period of anger and uncertainty. Kass ’14, Thomas’ older sister, remembers using her undergraduate major in human genetics to explain to their extended family exactly what mitochondrial disease and MERRF was.

In 2020, Thomas and his family planned a fundraiser in conjunction with MITO2i, a research hub at U of T specializing in mitochondrial research and medicine. They sold their original hoodies to help raise thousands for mitochondrial research and immediately started working on scaling the brand, now known as Thomas and Co. “I just want things to be better for everyone. And I want people to accept who they are,” he says. These desires led Thomas to self-publish his own children’s book, “Superheroes Like Me.”

These days, Thomas uses a wheelchair if his energy runs low, but maintains a sense of joie de vivre—taking his chair places it’s “not supposed to be” like a gravel road or steep hill. He wakes every day with purpose despite constant uncertainty. Now finishing up her PhD at U of T’s MITO2i hub, Kass loves that she can bring Thomas to the lab when he asks questions, and Victoria says that “Thomas’ story has inspired everyone in [their] family to live with purpose and bold courage.” In the face of ever-present fear, Thomas chooses positivity and implores others to do the same.