The boy who inspired Lorenzo's Oil dies...22 years after doctors predicted

Lorenzo Odone died on Friday at his home in America, one day after his 30th birthday.

He had fallen ill with aspiration pneumonia after getting food stuck in his throat, said his father Augusto Odone.

Lorenzo Odone, whose rare nerve disease inspired the film Lorenzo's Oil, has died

He began bleeding heavily and died before an ambulance could reach him.

‘He could not see or communicate but he was still with us,’ Mr Odone said. ‘He did not suffer...that’s the important thing.’

Lorenzo was diagnosed at the age of six with adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD.

His doctors told his parents the disease, which is caused by a genetic mutation that results in a breakdown of the neurological system, meant he would be dead in two years. ALD leads to an accumulation of fatty acids that damage the myelin sheath, which coats the nerve cells.

Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon with Zack O'Malley Greenburg as young Lorenzo in the film Lorenzo's Oil

Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon starred as Augusto and Michaela, his second wife, in the 1992 film, which depicted the couple’s struggle to formulate an oil that would prolong their son’s life despite their lack of a scientific background.

Sarandon earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. A study published in 2005, based on research involving 88 boys, showed that a treatment made from olive and rapeseed oils – patented by Augusto Odone – can prevent the onset of the symptoms for most boys diagnosed with ALD.