Sheila Lewis Ealey, mother of a vaccine-injured son with autism who dedicated more than 20 years of her life to educating parents about vaccine risks and taking action to improve the lives of children with special education needs, passed away in her sleep on July 20, 2024. For many years, Sheila had battled cancer and other health complications that, despite her suffering, did not stop her from pursuing her mission to create special education services for children and save other babies from becoming vaccine injured.
Sheila joined the club that no mother wants to belong to when her now 24-year-old son, Temple, was the victim of a medical error and injured at age one after he was given two doses of MMR vaccine, along with DTaP and Hib vaccine. His twin sister, Lucinda, did not get vaccinated that day. Within hours of those shots, Temple was banging his head on the floor and the next day was unresponsive. Within six months, 18-month-old Temple was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, while his sister continued to develop normally.
Sheila knew it was not a coincidence that her vaccinated son became autistic and her unvaccinated daughter did not, and she knew why. She searched for ways to heal her son and embarked on a journey to learn about natural forms of healing the body and brain through diet and supportive therapies.
Caring for a child with autism while raising three other children is a full-time job and Sheila not only did that, but she reached out to other families with children requiring special education in an effort to improve the quality of their lives. Having obtained a BA in Mass Communication from St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans, she earned an MA in Curriculum and Instruction in Special Education grades K through 12 from Concordia University. She obtained a PhD in Education from Gwynedd Mercy University specializing in Educational Leadership in Special Education grades K through 12 and her doctoral dissertation was entitled “Parent Perspectives on Social Skills Instruction of Transitioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
In 2009, she co-founded and was former director for 10 years of the Creative Learning Center of Louisiana in New Orleans. The mission of the Center was to empower children needing special education with real-life skills to enable them to achieve academically and develop emotionally and socially and maintain as much independence as possible in their lives.
In 2016, Sheila was publicly introduced to the world when she talked about what happened to her son in the award-winning documentary “Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe.” Her riveting interview highlighted the denial of medical doctors when it comes to symptoms of vaccine-induced brain and immune dysfunction, especially when those symptoms are given the label of “autism.” When Sheila described how a neurologist told her that Temple “was born that way,’ her eyes flashed with the certainty of a mother who had nurtured her child from the moment he was born. She answered defiantly, “No, he was not.” It was one of the most authentic and memorable lines in that film and resonated with every mother who has witnessed her once bright, healthy child regress physically, mentally and emotionally following vaccinations.
After 2016, I spent time with Sheila at vaccine education conferences where we were speakers. I saw her last at the Vaccine Injury Epidemic (VIE) event on the National Mall in November 2019. On frozen ground, we huddled together in the speaker’s tent, talking for hours about our life experiences. It was that day that I understood what a truly remarkable woman she was and the extraordinary strength and courage it took for her to be there. As she described the unbelievable physical suffering caused by the aggressive breast cancer and multiple operations that had brought her to the brink of death several times - even as she faced yet another life-threatening operation coming up - I knew that only by the grace of God was she standing there. With a radiant smile on her face, she was thankful to be alive and doing what she could to make a difference for all the parents with vaccine injured children who had made the pilgrimage to Capitol Hill that cold winter day.
Through all the physical, mental and emotional challenges in her life, Sheila never lost her faith and she never gave up. She loved life and lived it to the fullest. She was a light and an inspiration for me and for all those who knew and will not forget her.
Sheila served as a Trustee for the Autism Trust, USA, a 40-acre residential and day facility in Austin, Texas for adults with autism spectrum disorder who require lifelong support. She was a Board Director for Children's Health Defense (CHD) and Assistant Content Advisor and political analyst for Stand for Health Freedom.
The daughter of Lucinda Temple Lewis and the late Rev. Alex Lewis, Jr, Sheila is survived by her mother and her husband, Ron Ealey, a former United States Coast Guard Officer, and four children: Jennifer Brady (Ben), Leilani, Lucinda and Temple Ealey. Services were held at Dillard University Lawless Memorial Chapel in New Orleans on Aug. 3.
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