Life According to Sam (2013)

Progeria is known as the "premature aging" disease. It is a rare genetic condition that is caused by a mutation in one of our genes. In Life According to Sam, we get to know the Berns family and their life with Progeria. Sam is the son of doctors Leslie Gordon and Scott Berns. His parents refused to accept the grim diagnosis given them and the Progeria Research Foundation was born.

The Premise

Life According to Sam takes us through the not so ordinary lives of the Berns family. Sam is a teenager living with Progeria. His parents, both doctors, have dedicated their lives to healing others and have now poured that same passion into finding treatments and a cure for Progeria. This illuminating documentary shows what it is like to endure a child's illness, and the heart break and triumph that go along with it.

My Take

Sam is an an incredibly inspiring young man. His optimism and honesty are contagious. When facing the possibility of a short life, Sam still has the motivation to make plans for the future and that speaks volumes about his character. His parents are ever present in his life and help make sure that he has every opportunity to succeed. As a result, he is an honor student and a member of his high school's marching band. I can think of very few people that are equally as encouraging as young Sam.

Dr. Leslie Gordon is Sam's mother and is the Medical Director of the Progeria Research Foundation (PRF). When Leslie and Dr. Scott Berns, Sam's father, got the diagnosis that their only son had Progeria they quickly realized that there was a lack of information out there for other families as well as a lack of research being done for the medical community. They were able to form the PRF to help children affected with Progeria in hopes to raise awareness, educate families and the public, find the cause, find a treatment and one day find a cure for Progeria.

During the course of the documentary, we follow the Berns family, as well as other families, as they participate in the first ever human drug trial for a treatment for Progeria. We experience first hand the difficulty these kids experience as their little bodies are aging and their minds stay young. Their bones become brittle, their hearing and sight change, and their arteries harden and narrow, too. In fact most of these children will die of heart attack or stroke. And anyone that knows me knows that stroke is near and dear to my heart, having suffered a stroke at a young age myself due to a heart defect.

The Verdict

Life According to Sam made me cry probably half a dozen times. It tugged at my heart in ways that few documentaries have. It made me laugh, too. This film is not about trying to make you feel bad or feel sorry for the kids that were featured. In fact, it made we wish I knew them. They were all so brave and so beautiful and so full of life. I give Life According to Sam 17/17 years, because that is how old Sam is today.

Please visit the Progeria Research Foundation Website by clicking here.