Widower drove to Skejby to donate million to Parkinson's research

It was not an ordinary inquiry when 87-year-old John Rasmussen showed up at the neurology department at Aarhus University Hospital in the spring.

Instead of calling or writing an email, he had driven there in his own car, found his way through the hospital corridors and presented himself with a concrete wish.

He wanted to get in touch with researchers working with Parkinson's, because he had some money he wanted to donate to research.

"When you've made a promise, I thought that now this must be sorted out," explains John Rasmussen.

The promise he had made to his wife Kirsten before she died of Parkinson's in November 2024.

Together they had decided that their savings should go to research, so future patients could get better treatment options.

"We have the money – and no heirs"

The background for John's visit was a decision that he and Kirsten had made together in the last months of her life.

"In connection with Kirsten's illness, we talked about finances. I said to her: 'You know what, we have one million kroner standing in Djurslands Bank.' And then Kirsten said: 'Don't you think we should give it to Parkinson's research,'" John tells.

"Kirsten was well aware of where things were heading. It was going slowly downhill. She could feel that."

The couple had been married for 64 years when Kirsten died in November 2024. They met in the Danish Hiking Association in 1955 and married in 1960.

Kirsten Rasmussen worked as a medical secretary in the ophthalmology department at Aarhus Municipal Hospital for 42 years. She recognized the symptoms of Parkinson's early herself, but was dismissed the first time she approached the doctor, who according to John said: "No, you definitely don't have Parkinson's."

The year after, she went to the doctor again and was this time referred to a specialist in Risskov, who quickly diagnosed her with the disease.

"He could see it when we came through the door from the way she walked," says John Rasmussen.

Promised to care for Kirsten at home

From 2015 until 2023, Kirsten received medical treatment for the disease, and it went well for a long time.

"In the beginning, she cycled to the physiotherapist. Then suddenly she couldn't walk anymore, so I had to drive her down there, and finally the physiotherapist had to come home to us," John tells.

Even though the disease quickly got worse, John promised his wife that he would care for her until the end.

"She didn't want to go to a nursing home, and I promised her that, and I kept that promise," says John.

The last months were hard for the 87-year-old man, who cared for his wife around the clock.

"We had gotten a hospital bed into the bedroom. Every night we had to get up – I had to get up to pee, and she also had to get up to pee, so it was a circus. In the end it was like lifting a heavy sack of potatoes. I didn't have the strength for it in the end."

Still, John kept his promise. Kirsten died at home in the house in November 2024.

Drove to Skejby to donate money

After Kirsten's death, John wanted to follow up on his promise. First he called the Parkinson's Association in Copenhagen.

"They said they would like to have the money because they were facing a major construction project. I said I wanted the money to go to research. 'Oh,' she said then, and then we agreed to end the conversation," John tells.

Instead, he drove out to Aarhus University Hospital himself.

"I went in and asked at reception: 'Where is the Parkinson's department?' So I walk down the corridor and into the office and say: 'I would like to donate to your department up here.' They were wildly enthusiastic about that."

Professor visits

The staff at the department couldn't immediately help John, but they got his contact information and promised to pass it on.

Shortly after, Professor Per Borghammer called, who is head of PACE – Parkinson's Research Center, financed among other things by a large grant from the Lundbeck Foundation.

"We had an initial talk and quickly agreed that it would be better if I came and visited him in his home," Per Borghammer tells.

During the home visit, the two talked together for two hours about Kirsten, about the couple's life together and about the motivation behind the donation.

"It affected me greatly. And he cries several times during our talk, which is completely understandable. There's no doubt that they were soulmates. They had been married for over 60 years," Per Borghammer tells.

After listening to John's story, the professor came with a suggestion for how the money could best be used.

Scholarship to bear Kirsten's name

In a research center with a budget of several hundred million kroner, one million could easily disappear in operations.

"I thought for a long time about how we could use one million kroner in a way that makes the most sense, but I suggested establishing a scholarship for talented Parkinson's researchers, and John was completely on board with that," Per Borghammer tells.

John had one requirement though. It should only be in Kirsten's name.

"It should be pure Kirsten. It's wonderful that the money will be used for a scholarship that Kirsten can be remembered for long into the future," he says.

Hope for future patients

For professor and center director Per Borghammer, John's donation is different from the large foundation grants.

"That experience with John is of course different because it's more personal. The thing about coming out and sitting in his kitchen and drinking coffee and seeing a picture of Kirsten and hearing his whole personal story," he says.

The PACE center, which has received over 300 million kroner from the Lundbeck Foundation, researches Parkinson's and other diseases in the same category and aims to develop treatments that can slow or stop the disease's progression.

"If the money can help some of the future patients have an easier time with this disease, then that's the goal," says Per Borghammer.

John Rasmussen still misses his wife every day. But he finds comfort in that he and Kirsten with the donation can help others.

And even though it's the researchers who should distribute the scholarship, he also has plans to follow it through.

"I want to be there when the scholarship is awarded. It means a lot to see that the money goes to help research along – and that Kirsten's name lives on," says John.

Contact

Clinical Professor and Director Per Borghammer 
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine - PACE - Lundbeck Foundation Parkinson's Disease Research Center 
Phone: +45 78459001 
Mail: borghammer@clin.au.dk