To John Tacket, With Love
Life is not forever. You live to die one day after all.
Something on the tele made me stop and zip back to Discovery. A documentary about Progeria, a disease caused by a single miscoded DNA protein called Lamin-A furthering ageing 10 times faster than a normal human being. Which means the infants suffering Progeria never grow young, rather grow old.There are only 30-40 known cases in the entire world and researchers and scientists alike are baffled by this phenomenon of children with a physical resemblance to 60- 70-year-olds.
The documentary showed the life of a fifteen-year-old kid, John Tacket, suffering most of the disabilities of Progeria: diabetes, arthritis, strokes, asthma; but still, he was of high spirits, inspiring everyone around him. At fifteen, his height was hardly around 36 inches, his face still round and babyish but wrinkled-skin stretching around a tiny mouth-discharging high-pitched tinny voice. Fingers gnarled with arthritis, he still aspired to become a drummer one day. He even went to a charity function on Progeria and played the drums on some choice beats. Even when he got an angina attack after the strenuous process of beating the drums, when he was being whisked away by his father, he smiled at the crowd and flashed the V sign for peace.
When I searched the net for him, I sadly found out that he died at the age of 16, just after a year of that documentary, in 2003. However, his spirit lives on in the many Progeria suffering children. The spirit to survive, come rain or flood. The same children, some of whom would be uniting today at the Marriot at Downtown, Philadelphia. The Sunshine Foundation arranges this week-long event (from 23rd to 28th June’2006 this year), yearly, and parents along their Progeria suffering children come from as far places as Argentina, UK, Australia and Belgium, including few states of US.
Direct link
A request to my US friends who can spare a donation. If you are reading this, and might in future think of donating to a charity, choose ”Sunshine Foundation,” because they need to research a lot on the causes of this disease. Even if they know which protein causes this particular genetic mutation, there’s a LONG way to go in finding a cure.
Also, check out this special report on Seth and how he’s like some other Progeria children, coping with growing old. “A Time to Live.” You’ll be moved.
Coming back to John Tacket, he reminds of me hope, of perseverance and of fighting till the end. Even when he knew that he would soon die, he lived everyday to the fullest and put a smile on everyone around him. Seth has the same tenacity and my heart goes out to him and all the parents dealing with Progeria.
This post is my humblest salute to such determination and a prayer for John Tacket and every kid like him. I already know, he must be very happy in a place of his own in heaven....
If you think you have/had problems. Remember John Tacket, before you think all is lost and gone.
Something on the tele made me stop and zip back to Discovery. A documentary about Progeria, a disease caused by a single miscoded DNA protein called Lamin-A furthering ageing 10 times faster than a normal human being. Which means the infants suffering Progeria never grow young, rather grow old.There are only 30-40 known cases in the entire world and researchers and scientists alike are baffled by this phenomenon of children with a physical resemblance to 60- 70-year-olds.
The documentary showed the life of a fifteen-year-old kid, John Tacket, suffering most of the disabilities of Progeria: diabetes, arthritis, strokes, asthma; but still, he was of high spirits, inspiring everyone around him. At fifteen, his height was hardly around 36 inches, his face still round and babyish but wrinkled-skin stretching around a tiny mouth-discharging high-pitched tinny voice. Fingers gnarled with arthritis, he still aspired to become a drummer one day. He even went to a charity function on Progeria and played the drums on some choice beats. Even when he got an angina attack after the strenuous process of beating the drums, when he was being whisked away by his father, he smiled at the crowd and flashed the V sign for peace.
When I searched the net for him, I sadly found out that he died at the age of 16, just after a year of that documentary, in 2003. However, his spirit lives on in the many Progeria suffering children. The spirit to survive, come rain or flood. The same children, some of whom would be uniting today at the Marriot at Downtown, Philadelphia. The Sunshine Foundation arranges this week-long event (from 23rd to 28th June’2006 this year), yearly, and parents along their Progeria suffering children come from as far places as Argentina, UK, Australia and Belgium, including few states of US.
Direct link
A request to my US friends who can spare a donation. If you are reading this, and might in future think of donating to a charity, choose ”Sunshine Foundation,” because they need to research a lot on the causes of this disease. Even if they know which protein causes this particular genetic mutation, there’s a LONG way to go in finding a cure.
Also, check out this special report on Seth and how he’s like some other Progeria children, coping with growing old. “A Time to Live.” You’ll be moved.
Coming back to John Tacket, he reminds of me hope, of perseverance and of fighting till the end. Even when he knew that he would soon die, he lived everyday to the fullest and put a smile on everyone around him. Seth has the same tenacity and my heart goes out to him and all the parents dealing with Progeria.
This post is my humblest salute to such determination and a prayer for John Tacket and every kid like him. I already know, he must be very happy in a place of his own in heaven....
If you think you have/had problems. Remember John Tacket, before you think all is lost and gone.