Obituary | The boy who aged too fast

Sammy Basso led research into his own rare disease

The Italian biologist and longest-lived progeria patient died on October 5th, aged 28

Sammy Basso enjoys a dinner with friends at a restaurant in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, March 10th 2022
Photograph: New York Times/Redux/Eyevine

Like any 18-year-old, Sammy Basso had grand ideas for the summer he left high school. They involved friends, beer, beaches, good books, and definitely no work. Just one great big relax. His parents, however, seemed to have other plans. Maybe, knowing his horror of needles and puncturing, they had enrolled him in a sewing course? Or did they mean to put him on a strict vegetarian diet, a centrifuge of aubergines? The truth astonished him. They were all going to America, and on the ultimate road trip, east-west along Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Sammy Basso”

From the October 19th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Obituary

Peter Fenwick

Peter Fenwick became the world expert on near-death experiences

The neuropsychiatrist and promoter of “the art of dying” died on November 22nd, aged 89

Author Chiung Yao

Chiung Yao taught the Chinese all about romantic love

The bestselling novelist and screenwriter died on December 4th, aged 86


Jimmy Carter in 1976

Jimmy Carter was perhaps the most virtuous of all America’s presidents

The humble peanut farmer who went to the White House died on December 29th, aged 100


Brother Harold Palmer lived alone in the wilds by choice

The Northumbrian hermit died on October 4th, aged 93

Shalom Nagar was picked by lottery to kill Adolf Eichmann

The Israeli prison officer turned ritual slaughterer died on November 26th, aged 88

John Kinsel used his own language to fool the Japanese

One of the last Navajo code-talkers died on October 19th, aged 107