Lorenzo Odone, 30, Subject of Film About His Disease, Is Dead

[tpsbmam]

Source: NY Times

Lorenzo Odone, whose parents’ battle to save him from a nerve disease was the subject of the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil,” died on Friday. He was 30.

He had recently come down with pneumonia, his father, Augusto Odone, said.

At 5, Lorenzo was found to have adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare hereditary children’s disease. He was given only a few years to live.

Augusto Odone and his wife, Michaela, formulated a blend of erucic and oleic acids found in cooking oils that they said helped their son fight the disease.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/movies/31odone.html?ref=obituaries

[BrklynLiberal]

1. How sad for his parents...after such a struggle to lose him at such a young age.

[tpsbmam]

2. His mother Michaela died in 2000 of lung cancer...

also very sad. I guess, if nothing else, Lorenzo much have felt very loved as hard as his parents fought for him.

(I thought she'd died of breast cancer but the NY Times said lung cancer.)

[kestrel91316]

3. (knowing the way the media bollixes things up and doesn't know

what they are talking about with respect to science and medicine, she probably died of breast cancer that metastasized to her lungs, which is not the same thing as lung cancer, but journalists and most Americans don't understand the difference)

[tpsbmam]

5. I misremembered.....

I Googled her and the cause of her death was reported everywhere as lung cancer. At age 61. Sad -- obviously way too young for both. They also had 2 more children, which I didn't know -- Lorenzo had a brother and sister.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053003014_pf.html

.................

Oh man, not only his father but Omouri were at his side when he died. For those who saw the film, Omouri stole my heart.


http://www.myelin.org/

IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS THAT WE ANNOUNCE THAT LORENZO ODONE PASSED AWAY MAY 30, 2008, IN HIS SLEEP AT HOME IN FAIRFAX, VA. WITH BOTH HIS FATHER AUGUSTO AND HIS LIFE LONG FRIEND OMOURI HASSANE AT HIS SIDE.

[AikidoSoul]

4. The film that depicted their battle against the

mainstream medical complex, was moving and revealing.

They were discouraged at every turn by doctors and scientists who pushed "solutions" that only
managed the disease, but did not address underlying issues that cause it to happen in the first
place.

Lorenzo's father worked day and night reading books that he felt might give him clues about what
they could do to forestall, and even treat the disease in a fundamental way that improved his
chances at life. By any standard they succeeded -- much to the shame of the medical world that
ignored and even chastised them for even attempting to do this -- accusing them of giving "false
hope" to other parents of children with this same disease.

I much admire them both for their valiant battle to save Lorenzo, and to in fact provide real
help to other children with this devastating disease.

LORENZO's OIL was a truly wonderful movie on this topic starring Nick Nolte as the dad, and
Susan Sarandon as the mother. I do believe that it was nominated for at least two Oscars.

[tpsbmam]

6. It's one of the 10 movies I own....

I've watched it many times. They were and are, indeed, remarkable people and remarkable parents.

[BuddhaGirl]

7. indeed!

the conventional medical establishment doesn't always have all the answers!

RIP Lorenzo