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November 8, 2009

Remembering Seth Cook

nikhimenon@gmail.com

While browsing through one of the 'desi' entertainment channels(which still believes that 'zooming' into the 'menstrual cycles' of celebrities' would qualify as entertainment!) , happened to see the trailer of a 'yet to be released' Amitabh Bachan starrer titled 'Paa'.Incidentally it reminded me of an article (which i had come across a couple of weeks back) about a child called 'Seth Cook' who lived in the United states. For those who are wondering what Big B and this child have in common,here is the answer -Seth Cook had progeria.(Of course ,Bachan doesn't have Progeria,but his character in Paa has...!)

For the beginners,here is a useful piece of info. Progeria is a rare,non-heriditary genetic disease which occurs as a result of mutation.Also known as "Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome" and "Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome)it is an extremely severe disease  wherein symptoms resembling aspects of ageing are manifested at an early age.The affected usually die in their teens though cases have been reported where the patients lived up to twenty years of age.In other words children(though their mental development will be normal) with progeria dont grow ,they age rather.No effective treatment is there for this condition.

Kyle Cook, (Seth's father ) and Patti Cook,(Seth's mother) were students of a high school from the tiny logging town of Darrington, Washington. Like every other bollywood movie; they met , started dating and a few twists and turns later  got married.Patty eventually got pregnant at the age of 21.On  July 22, 1993  Seth Anthony Cook ,the baby with blue eyes was born.All was fine till the baby was three months old,when the parents discovered that their child was not normal.Failure to gain weight(failure to thrive) and hairloss(alopecia) being the first symptoms.When Seth was two years old,the parents realised that their son was one among the 40 odd cases of progeria  diagnosed worldwide.

While weak hearted people like us would see this as a tragedy,Seth cook had the courage to underlook it and  he even  took his life as a blessing.NBC,USA had done a feature on him and he won over millions of people through his witty one liners and practical jokes.

He was made  an honorary sheriff's deputy, which incidentally was his  lifelong goal.

Seth passed away on June 25,2007 when he was thirteen years old due to  myocardial infarction which was a   consequence of his disease.

I came to know about him while i was collecting some information about progeria to write a paper on it.But after reading a lot of articles about his life, and watching the interview he had given to nbc online,i am pretty sure that i wont be able to forget this blue eyed,brave boy with a great sense of humour soon..

To read more about Seth  ,here is the link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20119569


This post is dedicated to all the students in the country who don't think twice to end their lives when their exam results disappoint them ...!




12 comments:

LibsBen said...

Nice article...

LibsBen said...

Nice article...

nikhimenon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nikhimenon said...

thanks Libsben

Panicker said...

good one, doc...

Is it accurate for Bachchan's character to be so tall?

Wiki says, "People diagnosed with this disease usually have small, fragile bodies, like those of elderly people."

Still, I hope Bachchan would not do to progeria what Mohan Lal did to Alzheimer's Disease..

Seth's story is really inspiring...

Panicker said...

Off-topic:

take a look at this...

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/Story?id=7880954&page=1

the opposite of progeria?

nikhimenon said...

panicker, to my knowledge progeria patients won't be too tall..

they may attain the height of a six or seven year old child to the maximum

nikhimenon said...

panicker saab, i have no idea what that girl's disease is...neways thank yu for bringin that story to my notice....

rensil said...

wtf is progeria?

nikhimenon said...

read about progeria..rensil saab..or read the second para of this article

Jk said...

Just read the article and am searching in youtube for the documentary. Really nice. High time that people started realizing the amazing life that God has given us. Feels unfortunate not to have heard of Seth before. Thanks nikhil for the link.

Locomente said...

I have always liked Paa... The way characters oozes with positive vibes and thoughts... They way they take life lightly..

Your post also tells me that there were/are real people like that... Amazed....

I might not easily forget Seth either...