Odone suffered from adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a rare disease that affects the insulating membrane of the brain's nerve cells. When he was diagnosed at age 6, doctors told his parents, Augusto and Michaela, the boy had about two years to live. Because so little was known about the disease at the time, and there was essentially no treatment for it, Odone's parents created a concoction of olive and grapeseed oils to treat him, with apparent success.
Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte starred in the film adaptation, with Sarandon earning an Oscar nomination for her performance. (She lost to Emma Thompson for Howards End.) It was also nominated for best original screenplay, but lost to Neil Jordan for The Crying Game.
This doesn't look like the end of the story, though; Augusto plans to return to his native Italy and write a book about Lorenzo's life.
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