The character arc of Sam Berns
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 23 October 1996 to two paediatricians. Between then and his death sit a diagnosis of progeria before he was two, a research foundation his parents established a year later, a friendship begun at a hockey game in 2006 with a captain who told him he was the hero, a documentary, an honorary place with a hockey team in November 2013, a talk recorded in 2013 that has since been watched over fifty four million times, and a place as honorary captain at a playoff game he did not live to attend. The line below draws the whole story.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who was Sam Berns?
He would not be pitied. He had a philosophy instead.
His parents, Scott Berns and Leslie Gordon, are both paediatricians, and they received their son's diagnosis before he was two years old. Progeria is extremely rare and it is fatal, and it makes a body age very fast. Roughly a year after the diagnosis they founded the Progeria Research Foundation, to fund research into the causes and possible treatments and to support other families. Two doctors, handed the worst news of their lives, built an institution out of it.
What their son did with the years he had is the reason he is here rather than in a case study. In 2006, at a hockey game, he met the captain of the Boston Bruins. He had scored that night and Sam blurted out that he was the hero. The captain answered that no, Sam was his hero, and their hero. They stayed friends for eight years.
He was the subject of an HBO documentary first screened in January 2013. In November 2013 he helped host an awareness night at a Bruins home game, sat with the team as an assistant equipment manager, and dropped the ceremonial first puck.
In 2013 he recorded a talk called My Philosophy for a Happy Life. It has been viewed over fifty four million times, has more comments than any other talk on that platform, and it is not a talk about illness. It is a seventeen year old explaining, carefully and without self pity, how he had decided to live.
He was to be an honorary captain when the New England Patriots hosted a divisional playoff game on 11 January 2014. He died the evening before, aged seventeen. The team's chairman said simply that he had loved Sam Berns and was richer for having known him. Three days later the Bruins held a moment of silence and a video tribute before their game.
The moments
Sam Berns's timeline.
The 1990s
A diagnosis before he was two
Setback, and it changed everything. Two doctors, handed the diagnosis of their own child.
His parents build a foundation
Milestone, and it changed everything. They did not grieve quietly. They built the research foundation.
The 2000s
You are my hero
Milestone, and it changed everything. A nine year old told a hockey captain he was the hero, and was corrected.
The 2010s
An ordinary teenager
Everyday, and it changed his direction. School, and friends, and a body ageing faster than all of them.
Life According to Sam
Milestone, and it changed everything. A film about him, named the way he would have named it.
Stay private, or give the talk
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: stand up and give it, taken, or keep the years private. The talk has been watched over fifty four million times and has more comments than any other on the platform.
My Philosophy for a Happy Life
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seventeen years old, explaining to the world how to be happy.
He drops the puck
Milestone, and it changed everything. On the bench with the team, in a jersey, dropping the puck.
He dies at seventeen
Setback, and it changed everything. The night before the game he was going to captain.
Richer for having known him
Milestone, and it changed everything. What a grown man said, in public, about a seventeen year old.
A moment of silence
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A full arena, standing still, for a boy who loved the team.
The foundation his parents built is still funding the research, and the talk is still being watched by people who have never heard of progeria. What he set moving is fifty four million people who sat down expecting to feel sorry for a dying boy and got a lesson in how to be happy instead.
Your turn
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His was seventeen years long and he decided how to spend every one of them. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Sam Berns: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Sam Berns's life come from?
More character arcs
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Sources
- Sam Berns, English Wikipedia biography.
- Progeria Research Foundation records for its establishment by his parents.
- His own 2013 talk, and the HBO documentary first screened in January 2013.
- No medical detail beyond naming the condition is given here, and nothing about his final weeks.