On Christmas Day, Milwaukee lost a young legend due to her battle fighting lupus. 26 year old Shanisha Simmons was an incredible source of motivation. Diagnosed at the age of 7 with lupus, she fought a great fight.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body whether the skin, joints, and/or organs. With lupus, something goes wrong with the immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs foreign invaders, like the flu. This means In essence, it’s an extremely dangerous illness that is incurable. Cells literally fight against themselves.
Because of this, a person living with the effects of lupus isn’t fighting an easy fight. It affects different people in many different ways. Every day is different. On some days, lupus patients wake up without much strength to make it through the day. Sometimes their legs give out and they can’t walk or move. Because it can attack anything, there’s always a chance of illnesses, strokes, and so much more.
Shanisha was nothing less than an inspiration to so many of us as she pushed through her illness to give the world a piece of her. As she battled, she pressed forward living her absolute best life. She was an entrepreneur, making clothes, jewelry, and so much more.
As the founder of Creations by Shan, she was determined to show the world that it’s okay to be different. Her unique pieces spoke individuality and boldness. Being okay with your differences was a message that meant a lot to Shan.
Shan attended fashion shows, sold her clothing, and ran specials for her people. Her prices weren’t over the top and each piece was made specially, with love.
But her great works didn’t stop there. Shanisha Simmons was also in school to become a nurse. She attended MATC with pride. She had dreams of becoming a nurse that could relate. This passion sparked because of the numerous times she visited the doctor and when they would give her direction with medication, the effects weren’t accurate. Because of that, she felt it was important to become what she wished they were to her.
As a person, Shanisha was extremely ambitious. She was kind and supportive, loving and tremendously creative. Creating is what she did. It always helped her to stay in good spirits when she had long hospital stays and when she didn’t have it in her to do anything.
Bringing awareness to lupus was a passion of Shanisha because she knew that many people have no clue just how real the illness was. She even made her logo purple for that exact reason. Shanisha had dreams of collaborating with the Lupus Foundation to bring more awareness to the disease. She also planned to host a lupus fashion show this year. Her aspirations were so necessary to our community.
My condolences to her family, close friends, and fiancé. Not only was I honored to interview Ms. Shanisha Simmons, I am inspired today by the mark that she has left behind. I’m inspired to know such a powerful young lady who made no excuses. Her legacy will live on forever!
In loving memory… drop a purple heart in the comments.
Britney says
💜💜💜 Sleep Peacefully 💜💜💜
Aisha Stokes says
Shan you will be missed beautiful!!!
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Jasmine says
💜 love you cousin
Daarina Jones says
💜 I am truly going to miss my friend 😢
Latoya says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Bre says
Such a lovely young lady. I thank the universe for allowing us to cross paths. It was pleasure being her nurse. She was a wonderful patient, telling me about her dream of becoming a nurse. My condolence to her family and friends. ❤️
Dejay says
💜💜💜💜💜💜
Libda says
💜May she Rest in Peace and her Legacy continue thru those that Loved her and knew her Story… She makes a statement..”No Excuses.”💜
Marietta Baker says
Wow I enjoyed reading this article about one of my high school friends. Shanisha definitely was amazing and such a wonderful person. She will be missed 💜
Debra says
💜💜
Regina Boston-Dixon says
Maybe we can work on having some of her fashions in the next Lupus Foundation’s Fashion show! 💜💜💜 Rest on Young Lupie. 💜💜
Daniecce says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Pastor Diane says
Shanisha you brought meaning to the phrase ” leaving a mark in the earth”
May God say Well done my faithful servants.
RIP
Jay Ragland says
💜💟💜💟💜
Shunna K Dixon says
💜💜💜💜 My condolences to her Family & Friends. May she rest peacefully!!
Khayla Bent says
💜
Tiffany Bronaugh says
💜
Vivian Games says
💜💜💜
Jessica s Enders says
💜
Tay says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Sandra says
May You Rest Peacefully Angel 👼🏽 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
LovelyA says
💜💜
Mercedes says
💜💜💜 I’m going to miss seeing you at school. I still can’t belive you are gone. We were talking about how we were going to crush Nursing school together. I will never forget you. God Bless your family and you.
Danielle W. says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Such a beautiful sweet soul I’m pleased to have known her . She came to speak with our girls for summer camp and openly shared her story and passion for fashion, she even brought indivual gift bags for each one of them ! I will never forget her act of kindness, strong will and smile … “what you do for others are the gifts you leave behind” 🙏🏽💜 Rest Peacfully
Jewel Springfield says
She was and is Still is Inspiring to all who know her and those like me who. Have read about her Wonderful Legacy. Thank you for posting this awe inspiring Story… The Bible holds out hope..John. 5;25
Jane says
💜💜💜Shanisha sounds like a person we need more of in this world. May she rest in eternal peace!💜💜💜
Breonna says
💜Love you Shan & I will cherish the moments growing up with u! You always and will forever be a beautiful spirit! R.i.H Angel 💜💜💜💜
Felicia says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Teresa says
Fly High my beautiful Lupus sister!
Kayla J says
💜💜💜 Rest In Peace Shanisha
Marilyn says
💜💜💜💜💜💜 RIH Shanisha
Tamisha says
RIP 💜
Tasha says
RiP and thank you for all that you did for bringing wareness to our community. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Zoe says
💜💜💜💜
Deborah says
💜
Renee says
💜 Remembering her fight , her inspiration, and passion..
Iannissiouse Zeno says
RIP Beautiful butterfly my your soul Rest In Peace 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾💜💜💜
Mechell says
Keep resting peacefully 💜💜💜💜
Latoya says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Cookie Ayala says
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜