She passed away at the tender age of 30 in August 2020, after a brave battle with this uncommon illness.
She also told her parents about her wish to contribute to cancer research and to ‘educate millions’ by donating her body for scientific study, hoping to keep her memory alive through this act.
This led to the creation of the Channel 4 documentary My Dead Body, which aired for the first time on December 5, 2022.
Her mother, Jo, recounted to The Guardian before the documentary premiered, “She came out of the kitchen with a pile of forms.”
“[She] told us that was her plan. She’d printed them all out, signed them and asked us to be her witness. To her, it was simple”
Her father, Jason, added, “It was a typical Toni thing to do.” Jason continued to explain Toni’s thoroughness:
“Tick all the boxes on the form; do whatever she can; say yes to everything.
“We discussed it a bit: how they might keep her body for a while, and how she’d said they could take pictures.”
After Toni’s death, Professor Claire Smith, the Head of Anatomy at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), reviewed her medical records.
With their permission, she proceeded with the idea of using Toni’s body for educational purposes, which eventually led to the documentary concept.
