when hayley okines arrives home after a tiring day at school she would have more reason to grumble than most. the 12-year-old suffers from the rapid aging disease progeria, an incredibly rare condition that affects one in eight million people.
当海莉·奥金斯经过一天紧张的学习筋疲力尽回到家中时，她有足够的理由发泄自己的牢骚不满。这名12岁的少女患有早衰症候群，这种病的发生几率是八百万分之一。
but despite suffering from arthritis, having little appetite and taking a cocktail of pills morning and night, the youngster refuses to be beaten.
尽管要忍受关节炎的折磨，每天早晚都要吞服大把的药丸，这位年轻的女孩却拒绝向命运低头。
her mother kerry, told the mail online: 'i'm so proud of hayley. no matter what life throws at her she just gets on with it. '
海莉的母亲凯莉告诉媒体：“我以海莉为荣。无论命运有多少不公降临到她头上，她都能泰然处之。”
her parents were horribly aware that the average lifespan for a child with progeria is only 13 years old.
罹患这种早衰症的儿童平均只能活13年，这曾让海莉的父母非常恐慌。
hayley is one of the first progeria children to try a new class of drug called ftis (farnesyltransferase inhibitors). these were found to reverse an abnormality in progeria cells in the laboratory and also prevented symptoms developing in progeria mice.
海莉是第一批接受一种最新抑制剂药物治疗的早衰症患儿。这种药物在实验室中被发现可以抑制早衰细胞的变异，并在实验鼠身上产生了预期效果。
the family were well aware of the risks involved so early on in the trial. however kerry, 36, said: 'at the end of the day we have got nothing to lose.'
海莉一家非常清楚这种治疗的风险。但她36岁的妈妈凯莉说：在生命止息之前，我们没有什么可以失去的。
'we haven't got official results back but hayley's skin is a bit plumper. she has grown fine eyelashes and eye brows and has grown a bit as well,' she said.
凯莉说：虽然我们还没有拿到正式报告，但海莉的皮肤开始变得饱满，她甚至开始长出睫毛和眉毛。
hayley was well enough to attend her local secondary school and astonished her family by how well she adapted to her new surroundings.
海莉已经准备好了升入中学读书，并表现出对周围环境令人难以置信的适应能力。