In UK Girl, 17, but looks 104 dies

On Thursday, April 2, it was announced that 17-year-
old progeria victim Hayley Okines had passed away in
East Sussex, England .
The condition called; Hutchinson Gilford Progeria
Syndrome, also known as HGPS or Progeria, causes
children with it age up to 10 times faster than normal.
Hayley's mother, Kerry Okines , posted the news on
Facebook: "My baby girl has gone somewhere better. She
took her last breath in my arms at 9.39 pm."
Hayley - who BBC News say had the "body of a 104-
year-old" - was being treated in the hospital for
pneumonia, but she returned home shortly before she died.
"She came home for an hour and she saw her puppies,
little brother Louie and her sister Ruby," Hayley's father,
Mark Okines , told BBC News on Friday, April 3.
He added; "I think she wanted to come home to say
goodbye to everybody," he continued. "I think she knew
that yesterday was going to be the time."
Children with progeria rarely live past the age of 14, often
passing away from ailments that affect the elderly, such as
heart disease and stroke.
Hayley was told she would not live past the age of 13, but
in 2007, the teenager began undergoing pioneering treatment
at Boston Children's Hospital , US, as part of the first
clinical trial for the condition.
In September 2012, the trial was a success.
In a statement following Hayley's death, the Progeria
Research Foundation (PRF) praised the teenager for her
contribution to progeria research:
"The entire PRF community mourns the loss of one of
our shining stars, Hayley Okines. Hayley was one of the
first participants in the ongoing progeria clinical trials.
Hayley was a pioneer - and one of the reasons that we
now have the first treatment for progeria. Today we
remember her tremendous courage and determination," the
statement said.
Hayley was an avid campaigner for progeria awareness,
hailed locally and nationally as an inspiration for people
with and without the condition. The teenager wrote two
books detailing her experiences of living with progeria -
" Old Before My Time " and " Young at Heart " - and took
part in numerous interviews.
The news of Hayley's death comes just 15 months after it
was announced Sam Burns , a boy from Massachusetts ,
United States had died from progeria. He was 17 years
old too.
Progeria is caused by an abnormal protein in the LMNA
gene, called progerin, which interferes with the production
of lamin A - a protein that stabilizes a cell's nucleus