The remarkable Seth Cook

A boy in a hurry
Seth Cook, 11, is a little boy with a big pencil—and an even bigger problem: Math. Like any school kid, Seth would rather be anywhere else, but math class is where we found him first.

Rob Stafford, Dateline correspondent: How are you doing?

Seth Cook, boy with progeria: Good. How 'bout you?

Stafford: Good. My name is Rob.

Seth: Nice to meet you.

Stafford: Nice to meet you. I think we have something in common.

Seth: Really?

Stafford: I don't like math!

(Seth laughs)

With a disease that perversely turns years and numbers upside-down, maybe it's no coincidence that Seth and math have always been at odds.

Stafford: I saw your report card. You're passing.

Seth: Yeah, see, you don't know the date on that report card though. (chuckle)

Stafford: Oh, things have changed since the last report card?

Seth: Little bit. (chuckle)

Though she had concerns, Patti believed Seth should go to public school, rather than be home-schooled.

Dan Delong / Seattle Post Intelligencer His fingers gnarled from arthritis, Seth Cook does school work in his 5th grade class at Darrington Elementary School on December 8, 2004.

But Seth's father, Kyle, was uneasy, considering the fact Seth is just over 3 feet tall and weighs only 25 lbs.

Patti: Dad was worried he was gonna get picked on.

Kyle: Picked on or get knocked over.

Patti: Get hurt.

Stafford: You were worried about that?

Kyle: Sure. If you stand him up right now next to his classmates they just tower over him.

On this school day, Seth is offering his sixth-grade classmates a living lesson in nutrition: "Saturated Fat by Seth Cook."

Seth: Saturated fat plays a big role in my life. My body is getting older faster than most people.

Amazingly, what others see as a burden, Seth sees as a blessing.

Seth: I'm one of 40 kids in the whole wide world that has progeria. So it's really neat.

Patti: By the time he was in grade school he knew that he was special, and we'd always told him that he was special.

At 11, Seth is about the size of an average 2-to-3-year-old and this is as big as he'll ever get. He's a young boy trapped in an old man's body-- no hair, wrinkled skin, and severe arthritis, especially in his knees and hips. 

It’s his fragile cardio-vascular system, with the imminent threat of heart attacks, seizures and strokes that poses the biggest risk to Seth and other progeria kids.

Seth has to read nutrition labels and limit his fats.

Stafford: What are the things that you want to eat, but you just can't eat?

Seth: I don't get corned beef hash all that often.

Still, Seth doesn't seem to dwell on what he can't have. He focuses on what he can do. He’s about as well adjusted a pre-teen as you could find, whose best friend is his ubiquitous dog, a rat-terrier named Bullet and crazy for X-box games.

Stafford: How many hours have you logged with X-box?

Seth: I don't know. I'm happy though because X-box doesn't tell you how long you've been playing.

Stafford: You don't want to know.

Seth: I don't want to know.

Even with stubbed fingers, a common characteristic of progeria, Seth has become adept at the controls, an activity at which he can compete on an equal footing.

Stafford: I think this is the home court advantage right here.

But, with fragile bones, he's fearful of playing team sports or rough-housing with rowdy friends.

Patti: He says, "Those kids are crazy." They run around. He goes, "I'd get knocked over, mom." He usually himself will not do something if he's not confident.

Keeping Seth physically safe is one thing, but protecting him from hurt feelings can be more difficult-- like the time a young girl was adamant that Seth was actually a toy.

Patti: She walked up to Seth and told him he was not real. She said, "You're not real. Mommy, look at this boy. He's a doll. He's not real." I was in shock. I didn't know what to say. I decided to apologize to Seth for how she had acted and he said, "Mom, why are you sorry?"  I said, “Some of the things she said weren't very nice. I thought maybe they were a little bit rude."  He said, "Mom, she just doesn't know who I am."

That gave Patti the idea to introduce the "Real Seth" to every incoming kindergarten student at Darrington Elementary School.

Patti: I realized there will be kids that don't know who he is but in Darrington we have control of that.

On many Mondays, Seth reads a favorite book to an enthusiastic class of kindergarten students. Patti's plan is working for Seth and his new friends who enjoy his company so much they now seem oblivious to his condition.

Stafford, talking to the kindergarten class: How is Seth different?

Student: 'Cause he usually sits in a chair.

Stafford: He's different because he usually sits in this chair like the teachers do?

Student: Not on the floor.

Stafford: Not on the floor like you guys do?

Girl: He always comes in here to us.

Stafford: To help you?

Girl: And to read books.

Stafford:  You love that book-reading from Seth, don't you?  So when Seth is sitting here reading the book, what are you thinking about? Seth and how he might be different, or are you thinking about the book?

Girl: About the book.

For the most part, the kids look at Seth as a friend like any other kid-- but they have all learned what progeria is and what affect it has on Seth.

Teacher: Is Seth the same size as we are?

All: No.

Teacher: Will Seth ever be the same size as we are?

All: No.

Stafford: What do you think about that, that Seth looks different from you guys?

Girl: Seth is really special to us.

Teacher: Seth, thank you.

Class chorus: Byeeee. Thank you. Bye Seth. That was a good book.

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