Emotional meeting between donor family and researcher drives home the importance of research donations
It was the last picture they took together as a family. Moments away from a liver transplant, Tim Anegon was laying on a hospital bed surrounded by his wife Coleen and daughters Courtney and Nicole.
A little more than three years later, Courtney gently held a black and white photo of Tim, set in a gold frame. She was sitting with her mom on the seventh floor of the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, waiting to meet Patrice Fort, PhD, the neuroscientist and researcher who received Tim’s donated eye tissue to study diabetic eye disease.
Tim passed away four days after his operation. While his liver transplant was a success, he experienced fatal complications. Despite his family’s heartbreak, they never forgot that Tim’s liver transplant meant another family lost someone they love.
Coleen knew her husband would want to return the same generosity to someone else. They discovered Tim’s eye tissue was eligible for donation—and it was for research, not transplantation. Even though Coleen never doubted donation was the right choice, there was a sense of disappointment.
“It was really important to help somebody else when we donated,” Coleen said. “To us, it wasn’t enough.”
Their view changed after talking with Eversight and meeting Dr. Fort to better understand the gift of donated eye tissue to research. Coleen and Courtney met one-on-one with the Kellogg researcher and toured his lab. They met the staff and spoke with specialists who were the last people to touch a part of Tim.
Dr. Fort had partnered with Eversight for his research. With a detailed set of parameters in place, highly trained Eversight technicians recover tissue that allow his team to investigate specific questions related to diabetic retinopathy. Tim was not diabetic, but a key element of the study is comparing donors with diabetic retinopathy to those who do not have the complications. The investigation could lead to major breakthroughs.
According to Dr. Fort, virtually every diabetic patient will have some type of retinal disease. Vision loss is gradual for some. For others, it’s complete blindness.
“Every donation is important—every single one,” he said. “Getting more people to understand the importance of research can give hope to those who are struggling with their vision and need our help.”
The meeting between Dr. Fort and the Anegon family bridged the gap from donation to research and the search for the causes and cures of blinding eye conditions.
“We didn’t understand the full impact of Tim’s donation,” Coleen said. “Now we realize what a legacy it truly is.”
