A 24-year-old man with dementia who died over Christmas has left his brain to science.
Andre Yarham, who lived in Dereham, Norfolk, was just 22 when he went to the doctors after his mother Samantha Fairbairn noticed he was becoming forgetful or displaying inappropriate behaviour. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare form of the disease caused by a protein mutation.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Fairbairn said her son had chosen to leave his brain to research in a bid to prevent more families from suffering the impact of what she called the “cruel disease”.
“If in the future that can help one family get a few more years with their loved ones, then that would be worth it,” she said.
Ms Fairbairn, 49, first noticed changes to her son’s behaviour in November 2022, when she said he would increasingly forget things.
Scans revealed unusual shrinking to his brain, and he was referred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where he was diagnosed with dementia.
Ms Fairbairn told the BBC she felt “a range of emotions, from anger, sadness – sadness for him”.
She said she wanted people to be aware that dementia “doesn’t discriminate against age”, adding he “must have been one of the youngest”.
Mr Yarham went into a care home in September last year after his needs became too challenging for his family to manage, and just over a month later was in a wheelchair.
A month before he died, he lost his speech and was only making noises. But his mother said he kept his “personality, his sense of humour, his laughter and his smile”, until the very end.
He died on 27 December, and his brain has now been donated to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for research.
“Dementia is a cruel, cruel disease,” said Ms Fairbairn. “And I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“People with cancer, they can have radiotherapy, they can have chemotherapy, and people go into remission and can lead a fruitful, memorable life. With dementia, there’s nothing.”