Zebra Seeking Spoons

🦓 Why Are People with Rare Diseases Called Zebras?

In medical training, doctors are taught:

“When you hear hoofbeats, think horses—not zebras.”

That means: assume the most common explanation, not the rare one.

But for those of us living with rare diseases, we are the zebras.

🦓 We exist outside the “usual”

🦓 We’re often overlooked or misdiagnosed

🦓 We have to fight to be believed and treated

The zebra has become a proud, powerful symbol in the rare disease community — a reminder that rare doesn’t mean impossible, and that our stories matter.

🎗 Whether it’s Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, mitochondrial disease, or any of the 7,000+ rare conditions out there — we are here, we are real, and we deserve care.