LaShauna Matthews

LaShauna Janice Matthews was born on February 10, 1989, in Los Angeles, California, to her loving and devoted mother, Sherae Long. She was the oldest of five children and from the very beginning embraced her role as the protector, encourager, and example for her younger siblings. Even as a child, LaShauna’s presence filled rooms with laughter. She was silly, affectionate, and full of joy—her radiant smile and contagious laugh capable of lifting the heaviest spirits.

Though her life would come with profound medical challenges, LaShauna’s family quickly learned that her spirit would always outpace her circumstances.

At just two and a half years old, LaShauna was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. As she grew older, more diagnoses followed: Epilepsy at sixteen, Hypertension and Osteoporosis, and End Stage Kidney Disease at twenty-two. By twenty-nine, she faced severe anemia that required blood transfusions. Between 2017 and 2020 alone, LaShauna endured more than forty hospitalizations.

Her small frame—five feet two inches tall and ninety-seven pounds—stood in sharp contrast to the enormity of her strength. Her body was frail, but her spirit was mighty in the Lord. LaShauna never saw herself as broken or limited. She saw herself as God saw her: strong, beautiful, and wonderfully made.

When the world tried to place ceilings over her life, LaShauna lifted her eyes higher.

Doctors once said LaShauna would never walk. At three years old, she proved them wrong by taking her first steps. When told she would never be potty trained, she crawled to the bathroom until she could walk there on her own.

Educators claimed she would never read or write. LaShauna learned to read at a first-grade level, write her name, and copy written words. She dictated her thoughts so others could write them down, then carefully copied them into her journal—word by word, victory by victory.

School psychologists said she lacked cognitive understanding and had no sense of danger. Yet LaShauna memorized prayers, blessed her food, and demonstrated discernment and awareness—waiting at curbs, reaching for a hand, and navigating the world with care.

By age eleven, she no longer needed leg braces or arm crutches. She walked with a limp, but she walked free.

She learned to wash clothes, make her bed, clean the house, and take pride in bathing and styling her own hair. Those ponytails weren't always perfect—but perfection was never the goal. Independence was.

This was perseverance.

She loved to eat—and that joy blossomed into a love of cooking. Preparing meals for her mother and sisters was one of her favorite ways to care for others. You could taste the love in everything she made.

She also loved to dance.

Despite physical limitations, LaShauna danced with freedom and abandon, especially in praise and worship. Her body may have moved differently, but her worship was powerful. When music played, LaShauna danced with her whole heart—unconcerned with how it looked and focused only on honoring God. Her dance was another way she testified that joy could not be confined.

Church was where she felt most whole, most accepted, and most alive. In 2010, after moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, her Aunt Marie invited her to River of Life Word Ministries. LaShauna immediately knew God was placing her there. She and her youngest sister, Aolani, made The River their church home.

LaShauna was known for her passionate praise. She was a “clap your hands, raise your voice, hallelujah, thank You Jesus” kind of worshipper. No matter her condition, she found a reason to praise—even when she was physically weak.

She was a fierce prayer warrior, often reaching out to others simply to pray with them. During dialysis, she prayed for fellow patients and their families. Through her evangelism, many members of her family—including her mother, siblings, grandparents, and extended relatives—became members of the church.

LaShauna understood the power of praise. She often said, “Every time I go into the hospital, Jesus brings me out. I must go praise Him.”

Helping others was central to who LaShauna was. Even while navigating her own serious illness, she was deeply concerned about the suffering of others. She often spoke about wanting to donate a kidney to help someone on dialysis, never focusing on her own condition—only on the pain she saw in others.

When LaShauna passed away, her mother knew instantly how to honor her heart. LaShauna became an organ donor, giving the ultimate gift by donating both her heart and liver - saving two lives.

Her heroic generosity was later honored by the Nevada Donor Network, and in 2021, LaShauna's name was featured on NASCAR driver Joey Gase's race car—sharing her legacy of life and hope on a national stage.

On November 25, 2020, LaShauna was hospitalized following an accident that caused a brain hemorrhage. What should have been met with immediate urgency and vigilant care instead became a tragic illustration of the very inequities that would later inspire this Center.

In her final days, LaShauna's pain was repeatedly dismissed. Her voice—clear, present, and deserving of dignity—was not honored. Her symptoms were minimized, her suffering questioned, and her condition was met without the urgency it required. The compassion and responsiveness every patient deserves were absent at critical moments.

LaShauna's life was devalued through a pattern of disregard that followed her across systems meant to protect her. Paramedics failed to treat her condition with the seriousness it demanded. Hospital staff did not respond with the speed, attentiveness, or respect owed to a patient in crisis. Regulatory bodies tasked with accountability did not provide the transparency or action her family sought. Together, these failures compounded—turning delay into danger and neglect into irreversible harm.

This was not a failure of medicine alone; it was a failure of equity, urgency, and humanity. Bias, dismissal, and systemic discrimination converged at the very moment LaShauna most needed care.

After twenty-nine days of fighting with the same courage and faith she carried her entire life, LaShauna returned to our Heavenly Father on December 24, 2020, at just thirty-one years old.

Even while on dialysis, she had once boldly declared, “I will never get used to being on dialysis. My God has a better life for me!”

She was right.

LaShauna Matthews was—and remains—a beacon of hope, faith, and perseverance. Her life inspired the creation of the LaShauna Matthews Perseverance Award at River of Life Word Ministries, ensuring that her example of endurance and faith continues to be honored.

She is lovingly remembered by her mother, Sherae; her sisters Jessica, Jamilah, and Aolani; her nieces and nephews; grandparents; extended family; and close friends whose lives were forever changed by her love.

The LaShauna Matthews Center exists because LaShauna’s life revealed both the beauty of compassion and the urgency of justice. Her name stands for dignity, advocacy, faith, and the belief that no one should suffer or die because of discrimination or neglect in health care.

We carry her name with intention.

We carry her story with love.

And we carry her spirit into every life we fight to protect.