Our Mission

To increase the understanding and visibility of autoimmune diseases while raising research funds to use in solving the puzzle of autoimmunity.

Our Story

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The death of a child can only be truly understood by those who have experienced such a loss. Beyond the enduring heartache, how a parent responds will differ with each situation and each individual. We have chosen to remember Pat by creating a memorial in his name. Our mission is to bring importance and understanding to the millions whose lives and deaths are impacted by autoimmune disease (AD). Pat (John Patrick Barnes) grew up healthy and happy in Bellevue Washington. As a senior at Washington State University he developed Hodgkin’s disease.

Over the next 10 years he was treated with both radiation and chemotherapy, which subsequently adversely impacted his immune system. In turn he was struck with an autoimmune response in the form of a blood platelet disease called autoimmune idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP). Simply put his immune system mistakenly recognized his own blood platelets as invaders of his body and began to rapidly destroy them. Internal bleeding and infection could not be stopped and he died seven weeks after entering the hospital.

This is the kind of story that never makes the evening news. However, what it lacks in sensationalism it makes up for in rapidly increasing numbers of those who develop autoimmune diseases every day of every year in all parts of the world. Most people would be quite startled to learn about the list of familiar diseases that are attributed to autoimmune response: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, lupus, Crohn’s Disease, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, and many more.

More than 80 such diseases affect as many as 50 million U.S. citizens.

It is our purpose through Pat’s Fund to steadily increase awareness, support and available money for autoimmune disease research. Great and amazing achievements are currently being made by the research scientists we work with at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason in Seattle Washington.

To those who knew and loved him, Pat’s 33 years were all too few. His daughter Riley, his family and many friends miss him. Achievements from research in his name can encourage a longer, healthier future for many and a lasting legacy for him.