In “Reporter’s Notebook,” Door County Knock reporters share brief updates on previous stories and other tidbits of news.
Ben Anderson has an amazing story—and it’s not over yet.
After being diagnosed with hydrocephalus and sustaining a traumatic brain injury in 2024, the Door County alum went through extensive treatment. When I spoke with him that fall, he was experiencing severe headaches, along with impaired vision, balance, and cognition. He had to leave graduate school at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities to focus almost entirely on recovery.
A GoFundMe and some community fundraisers helped support Ben through that time.
Today, he said he’s the healthiest he’s been in years.
He’s graduated from all therapies, his memory and cognition have returned, his headaches are now infrequent and less severe, and his vision is back to where it was before his diagnosis. Some fatigue and dehydration remain—common with hydrocephalus and TBI—but they’re manageable.
“A couple months ago, my neurosurgeon couldn’t believe what my MRI looked like,” Ben said. “It was like a completely different person from the original MRI.”
Ben has also stayed in touch with Micah Perron, the boy he donated part of his liver to. (The liver donation is unrelated to Ben’s diagnosis.) Now 10 years old, Micah visited Ben in Minneapolis this winter. The two went swimming, played with LEGOs, and had dinner together.
“It’s such a unique friendship and relationship to have,” Ben said, adding that he expects it to continue as Micah grows up.
He credits his recovery to the support of the Door County community, along with his family, friends, and medical team. He also credits his own persistence, especially when it comes to his future.
Ben plans to finish his graduate degree in applied child and adolescent development and become a pediatric mental health therapist. He is currently working at the Boynton Mental Health Clinic at the University of Minnesota as a patient services representative, a work-study position that’s helping him return to school. He applied for the job multiple times before finally getting it.
If all goes as planned, he will graduate in spring 2027.
Ben has always wanted to work with kids and help others, and the experience of being on the receiving end of support and generosity gave him a new perspective, he said.
“The most eye-opening thing to me is how many people are going through something that’s either chronic or has a long-lasting impact, or dealing with loss,” he said.
Finding others who were struggling with their health and finding camaraderie in those struggles was very beneficial to his own recovery, Ben said. He wants to be a light for others so they know they aren’t alone.
In typical Ben fashion, he closed our conversation with a story about someone else in need. Ben’s dad, Gary Anderson, and his friend and business partner, Terry Lindenburg, lost their Liberty Grove woodworking shop to fire a few months ago. The building, a converted chicken coop, was uninsured. The two had run a woodworking business there for 40 years.
A fundraiser dinner is planned for April 12 at Mink River Basin in Ellison Bay.
For Ben, it’s another example of the kind of community support that helped carry him through his own recovery.
