(24 Dec 2003)
1. Wide shot Aharon Yisrael carried on chair as people sing and dance around him
2. Close up Aharon
3. Aharon thrown up in the air as part of celebrations
4. People applauding
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kalman Samuels, founder of Shalva institute:
"This Bar Mitzvah is incredible because there's 140 children in the world that suffer from an illness called 'cocaine'. In one
family there are two such children - one passed away ten days ago at the age of 24, the younger brother is celebrating his manhood, his Bar Mitzvah today at the age of thirteen. The family has managed to get out of their grief in order to celebrate life because this child will not have a wedding, will not have a future - this child only has today."
6. Aharon playing drums
7. Close up Aharon
8. Aharon playing drums tilt down to hands
9. Close up Dalia Yisrael, Aharon's mother clapping
10. Wide shot people clapping pan to Aharon playing drums
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dalia Yisrael, mother of Aharon:
"It's very hard for us to celebrate today because a few days - 10 days ago we lost our son. He'd been 23 years old. We have two sons that are sick with same syndrome called 'cocaine syndrome'. It's a kind of disease that makes the children look like being older people."
12. Close up Aharon smiling
13. Aharon draped in Israeli flag pull out to wide shot
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dalia Yisrael, mother of Aharon:
"Aharon is a very happy boy. I think that this is the most happiest day in his life, all the people around him, all the volunteers,
all the children, the family, it's a very special day for him."
15. Aharon being carried by his father
16. Close up present of toy car pull out to wide shot
17. Close up driving licence from State of Israel Transport Ministry
18. Close up mother Dalia watching
19. Wide shot Aharon clapping with family in background
STORYLINE:
Like any other 13-year-old Jewish boy, Aharon Yisrael celebrated his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
But Aharon's life is far from normal. He is one of only an estimated 140 people worldwide who suffer from a rare genetic aging disorder and he's not expected to reach his 18th birthday.
The story of the Yisrael family reads like Biblical tragedy.
Aharon's brother was also afflicted with the exceedingly rare Huntington-Gilford Progeria syndrome and he died just 10 days ago.
And this was not the first time death had touched the family - a daughter was hit by a bus and killed 14 years ago.
But on Tuesday, parents Dalia and Shemeson stood with their two surviving daughters as Aharon celebrated his coming of age.
Although they are still in the Jewish seven-day period of mourning after the burial of their eldest son, they felt it was important to give Aharon his day while they could.
Aharon's body has aged rapidly beyond his years and he's unable to speak or read.
His mother said he does not understand the extent of his condition, which could take his life in the next five years.
But at his bar mitzvah, Aharon took part with enthusiasm, while friends and family cheered on at Jerusalem's Shalva centre, a private education and care-taking centre for mentally and physically challenged children.
Party-goers danced and clapped in the brightly decorated auditorium while other children from the centre sang and played drums.
The centre's music therapist filled the room with the recorded beat of his synthesizer.
Aharon was carried in by his father to the roars of his guests and draped with a prayer shawl to stand on stage in front of a
banner reading "Aharon's Bar Mitzvah."
The crowd cheered and yelled "mazal tov."
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