A mother honours her daughter with an endowment gift aimed to further our understanding of autoimmune conditions.
Donna Palmer cherishes the memory of her daughter, Erin Lee Palmer, as a kind and gentle soul — generous, quiet, and conscientious.
“I feel badly that her life was cut short. She was only 52. That’s why I want to honour her and have her name remembered with this gift,” Donna says.
Donna generously gifted $100,000 to Calgary Health Foundation to start the Erin Lee Palmer Memorial Endowment Fund; an endowment designated for educational initiatives at the Neuroimmunology Clinic at South Health Campus.
Her hope is that the gift will empower staff to deepen their understanding of autoimmune conditions, foster better connections with patients, and enhance their knowledge of rare medical diseases like her daughter’s.
In 2019, Erin was living in Yellowknife, working for the Northwest Territories Geological Survey, when she unexpectedly collapsed at work and had to be medevacked to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton in critical condition.
She was eventually diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis — a rare condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy brain cells, leading to inflammation of the brain. Her body temperature dropped to as low as 30° Celsius, and she needed to be constantly warmed to stay alive.
After five months, Erin was released from hospital.
At the time, returning to Yellowknife was not recommended because the city did not have medical facilities needed to care for her. Erin was instead moved to Lethbridge to be with family and they went about looking for a specialist closer to home.
Erin was eventually referred to the Neuroimmunology Clinic at South Health Campus under the care of Dr. Ronak Kapadia.
“Dr. Kapadia took care of her, and it was so reassuring to all of us that he understood her condition,” affirms Donna. “He was excellent, and the office staff were very good to us as well. Whenever Erin needed something, they would help her out with it.”
Unfortunately, the medical team was never able to identify the antibody that caused Erin’s autoimmune encephalitis—a step needed to develop an effective immunotherapy to manage their disease—and she unfortunately succumbed to the illness in January 2023.
In the hopes of helping those with the disease and their families experience better outcomes, Donna decided to work with Calgary Health Foundation to set up the endowment fund.
“I want Erin’s name to be remembered through the fund. If her experience can lead to other people being treated because medical professionals know more about the disease, then that would be a wonderful legacy.”
Ultimately, Donna wants her daughter to be remembered for who she was as a person.
“She was sweet, fun loving, witty, and was always up for an adventure. She was a creative, beautiful woman. She had so many struggles in her life, and she did so well with all of them. Quite simply, she was an amazing woman, and I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.”
