A brave Naracoorte teenager is fighting not just for her own health but for thousands of Australians silently battling a debilitating illness.

Seventeen-year-old Mia McCarthy, a Year 12 student at Naracoorte High School, is speaking out about life with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a chronic condition that leaves her struggling with “dizziness, faintness, brain fog, nausea and extreme fatigue.”

Diagnosed in 2025 after suffering symptoms since 2022, Mia describes herself as one of “the lucky ones” but says many others are not.