Taryn Brumfitt had some words ready – all Australian of the Year finalists have to, just in case – but was still flooded with nerves as she walked to the podium to accept the award of a lifetime.

“Of course, there is this moment of shock when you’ve got to pull yourself together really quickly because you’ve got to make the most important speech you will ever deliver,” says Brumfitt. “It’s quite a moment.”

Brumfitt spoke from the heart about the scourge of body shaming with its associated problems of anxiety, depression, anorexia and suicide. For 70 per cent of Australia’s schoolchildren, how they look is all they care about.

Enzo Cornejo, an inspiration for Brumfitt.

Her Embrace Kids documentary featured a non-binary teenager, an autistic girl, and launched into prominence the amazing Enzo Cornejo, an 11-year-old Adelaide boy living with progeria, the disease of premature ageing. Loved and supported by his family, friends and school, Enzo in the documentary projects confidence and happiness and just wants to get on with life.

“It felt obvious to include the voices of everyone’s lived experience,” Brumfitt says. “I think perhaps we need to remember that body image is not just size and weight, it’s appearance; it’s about how you feel about all of you.”

It is hard after meeting Enzo not to be swept away by his rock-solid self-belief, and his positivity inspires his teachers at school, his classmates – and Brumfitt. On the top of her Australian of the Year draft speech wrote the words: What would Enzo do?

“I read that before I did the speech because Enzo just shows up in the world as he is, unapologetic, confident, with pure joy, and he’s a truth teller, he speaks the truth,” she says. “I feel very grateful for having met everyone who made that Embrace Kids film but particularly Enzo. I know you shouldn’t have favourites but I do!”

Her announcement as Australian of the Year was praised by many and criticised by a few. Among her critics was Sydney author and former broadcaster Mike Carlton AM who tweeted that he would have preferred a frontline health worker doing real, compassionate work, “NOT someone who makes a buck out of saying it’s OK to be a bit fat”.

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Passionate Crows supporter Enzo Cornejo and his own biggest supporters, his school friends, had a special visit to West Lakes this week to meet their favourite AFL players through the Adelaide Crows Foundation.

Football mad Enzo has the extremely rare condition Progeria – the disease of premature and rapid ageing – which occurs in an estimated 1 per 20 million people worldwide.

Enzo is the only known Australian with Progeria but, despite his medical challenges, he is a bright and energetic 11-year-old who loves school, playing with his friends and footy.

After hearing about Enzo and his love for the Crows in The Advertiser’s SA Weekend magazine, the family was invited for a behind-the-scenes experience at the Club through the Adelaide Crows Foundation’s Crows Care program, which sees players and staff deliver experiences to support children and youth in need.

Head of Football Adam Kelly provided a tour of the football facilities followed by an opportunity to watch AFL training and trade jokes with players.

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Enzo Cornejo was doing the numbers after his chat with Adelaide legend Taylor Walker.

The 11-year-old Enzo had just handed out his business cards for his YouTube channel EnzoCubeHead and the former Adelaide captain was promising to pass them on to his teammates in the locker room, although the 32-year-old Walker joked he would have to learn what YouTube was first. Enzo told him he was hoping the new subscribers would take him through the 500 mark.

“I think there’s 43 of them (Adelaide players) so I’m going to earn 43 in an hour,’’ an excited Enzo said.

Enzo and seven of his friends from St Mary’s Memorial School at Glenelg – Daniel, Brodie, Rachel, Oisin, Ashton, Josh and Lewis – were guests of the Adelaide Crows Foundation on Wednesday, and hoovered up autographs and pictures, kicked goals on the oval while the Crows’ trained nearby and were able to meet many of their heroes.

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Meet Enzo Cornejo, Adelaide’s one-in-20 million boy who is squeezing more joy, friendship and Vegemite into a day than most of us.

Diagnosed with the rare condition progeria – the disease of premature and rapid ageing – this bright and energetic 11-year-old is shrugging off medical complaints usually associated with the elderly, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, and the risk of arteriosclerosis.

The only known Australian with progeria, Enzo hits the ground running each day, just another boy at school who loves playing with his friends.

“I like being different because I love my body,” Enzo says. “Also, I’m a handsome boy. I’m happy just being me.”

Enzo, who is in year 5 at St Mary’s Memorial School, Glenelg, has reached an age where his parents, Catherina Llontop and Percy Cornejo, want him to be a more familiar face in the Adelaide community, so he can move around without a fuss. He is well known at his school where new students are told there is a special boy ahead of them. But he has not been introduced more widely before because he was too young to talk about it.

He grew up knowing he was special but only understood progeria about a year ago after Llontop and one of his therapists compiled a My Story booklet that charted his birth, diagnosis and symptoms. It gave him the language he needed to talk about it.

“It kind of makes my body very old, very quickly,” he explains. “It makes my veins very visible and also my heart is very delicate, and I don’t have much hair.”

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What result you get when people with true love work together!?
An amazing event !!!
There are no words to thank for what happened today at our first Carnival.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Carnival today... we hope all you had an amazing day.

Enzo was so happy today and enjoyed every minute.
Thank you everyone, thank you for all your love, support and prayers.

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​Tens of thousands of people will stop traffic tomorrow to take part in the annual City to Bay Fun Run.
Among them is a group of more than 60 competitors, who will be raising funds for the only Australian boy to be diagnosed with a rapid ageing condition.