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Schoolgirl, 12, with body of 96-year-old refuses to be beaten by aging disease by living life to the full
By CLAIRE BATES
Last updated at 4:00 PM on 14th June 2010
When Hayley Okines arrives home after a tiring day at school she would have more reason to grumble than most. The 12-year-old suffers from the rapid aging disease progeria, an incredibly rare condition that affects one in eight million people.
But despite suffering from arthritis, having little appetite and taking a cocktail of pills morning and night, the youngster refuses to be beaten.
Her mother Kerry, told the Mail Online: ‘I’m so proud of Hayley. No matter what life throws at her she just gets on with it. She doesn’t let her arthritis stop her and runs around with her friends and she is very good at taking her medication.’
Hayley’s life story is the subject of a documentary to be broadcast on Five tonight. When she last featured in the channel’s ‘Extraordinary People’ series in 2007 she was about to take part in a pioneering medical trial in America…Continue reading
