Michiel Vandeweert was given 12 years to live. He lived 28.
In Diepenbeek, Belgium, doctors had set an end date for his life when they diagnosed him with progeria, the disease that ages the body at breakneck speed and is nicknamed “Benjamin Button disease”. Michiel decided not to listen to them. He became a DJ, won a Jamie award for his video game videos, wrote a book at 15, and gave a TEDx talk titled “Life Is Short, Make the Most of It”. He amassed nearly a million followers who watched him laugh at the time he had left.
Alongside his sister Amber, 20 and also with progeria, he starred in the series “How to Be Alive”. He had a second heart surgery scheduled when his body gave out: he died of heart failure on Monday, August 10.
Amber wrote to him after losing him: “Rest in peace, brother. I miss you so much”. Today, she is the only person with progeria in the entire country.