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”

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