A final gift

Barbara Fleetwood met her husband, Charlie, more than 50 years ago on a blind date.

"The minute I laid eyes on him, I knew I was going to marry him," she said.

Eight months later, they were married. Their lives were full and happy. But in 2020, everything changed. Charlie, a longtime Milton Town councilman, was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration, a rare brain disease similar to Parkinson's, which eventually confined him to a wheelchair.

Instead of letting his condition bring him down, Charlie sprang into action, thinking about what he could do with the life he had left. He wanted to continue making a difference even after his passing.

"He decided he wanted to donate his body to science," Fleetwood said.

He got the idea from a neighbor. She researched programs and came across the University of Delaware's Anatomical Gift Program. She knew immediately it was the right fit.

"He hoped students could use his anatomy to find answers to questions related to his diseases," Fleetwood said.