Watch This Speech by Sam Berns

Sam Berns died on Friday. You may remember him from the HBO documentary about his life. If you haven't seen it, you should.

At one point the documentary describes the discovery of the protein responsible for his medical condition, and Sam explains how this "takes the burden off of me because I don't have to think of progeria as ... an entity." Sam was a remarkably bright and eloquent kid and I remember watching this scene and thinking about how it crystalized what is undoubtedly a complicated and painful set of emotions into a completely relatable concept. It made me cry.

Sam was also a remarkably happy kid despite the challenges he faced and the unescapable truth that his lifespan would be much shorter than it should have been. Here's how Sam achieved such happiness, in his own words.

Watch This Documentary About Sam Berns

I met Sam Berns about 12 years ago when he was 5 or 6. I hadn't though about him in almost a decade until I read Rick Reilly's story about Sam's visit to a Patriots practice. I was more surprised to hear that Sam is alive than to see his name on ESPN's website. Here's why.


Life According To Sam - Trailer from Fine Films on Vimeo.

You can watch Sam's documentary on HBO Go. And you should.