I think about these situations a lot.

When I think someone very ill is younger than me, it assumes import on the 1st face of growth - personal physical increase in time and space. And in that facet - I will likely outgrow him or her.

But the other faces of growth I think make us human are

- mental / intellectual (growth in knowledge)

- Social / emotional (growth in friends / family / social contacts)

- spiritual (non physical)

Growth in any of these facets is life worth saving / preserving. But while the 1st facet is the required foundation for all the others, it’s also the only face of growth that has to end at death.