On
Friday evening, Sam Berns, a 17-year-old boy, passed away. Although he was only
17, he essentially died of old age. He had the extremely rare genetic disease progeria.
The disease causes loss of weight and the inability to gain it back, loss of
hair, and often leads to osteoporosis. The average life expectancy for a child
with progeria is only 13. Although he had this incredibly large obstacle, Berns
lived fully. He was a member of his high school’s marching band; he played a
specially designed snare drum. Berns said he didn’t want to waste time or
energy feeling bad for himself and just kept moving, enjoying the time he had.
This
type of story reinforces how lucky the majority of us are to have such healthy
lives. It’s very easy to spend a lot of time feeling sorry for ourselves, but
Berns’ story has inspired me to try to enjoy every moment more. The article
saddened me, but it made me think about life itself. The fact that Berns
decided to go to his school’s homecoming dance despite all the obstacles he
faced is great. I am going to try to face every day more like Berns did.
He lived four more years than the doctor said he was supposed to. I mean, you hear stories like that fairly often, but when you take a step back, you can really appreciate how hard they must have fought to prove those doctors wrong. It really is inspiring.
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