A BRITISH teenager suffering a rare genetic condition that gave her the body of a 100-year-old has died aged 17.

    Hayley Okines became well-known three years ago when she was part of a documentary about her premature ageing condition.

    She suffered from the rare disease progeria which ages the body at eight times the normal rate.

    Progeria takes its name from the Greek word “proeros,” meaning prematurely old.

    It involves a mutant protein called progerin that accelerates physical ageing.

    There are around 74 known cases of the disease around the world and only four in the U.K.

    A 10-year-old progeria child will have the appearance of an octogenarian with symptoms including baldness, arthritis and heart problems, but the mind of a 10-year-old.

    Progeria patients normally die from heart attacks or strokes at an average age of 13.

    But Hayley, from Bexhill, East Sussex, defied the odds to live four more years and even published an autobiography about living with the disease.

    On Thursday night, her mother Kerry posted on Facebook: “My baby girl has gone somewhere better. She took her last breath in my arms at 9.39 p.m. x.”

    On Friday, the Progeria Research Foundation posted on its Facebook page: “The entire Progeria family mourns together with many as we say goodbye to Hayley Okines, our smart, beautiful and spirited English rose, who passed away today at age 17.

    “Gone from our sight, but never our memories, gone from our touch but never our hearts. We will miss you.”

    Hayley and her family had fundraised for her medical treatment and to raise public understanding of the condition.

    Her story was catapulted into the limelight after she starred in documentaries called “The Girl who is Older than Her Mother and World’s Oldest Teenager: Extraordinary People.”

    Her autobiography, called “Old Before my Time,” detailed pop-star crushes and a dislike of school.

    But it was also a moving insight into how a child copes with a disease that resulted in Hayley having the body of a 105-year-old.

    Hayley, who turned 17 Dec. 3, left school last summer.

    However, despite pioneering drug treatment in the U.S. that gave her a new lease of life, she was unable to conquer the disease.

    In recent weeks her health had deteriorated and she contracted pneumonia. After being discharged Thursday she died at home late night.(SD-Agencies)