Shawn O’Keeffe is a Richmond native, born here in 1967. He has been married to his wife Sonya for over 26 years, and they have three children: Austin (25), Brendan (22), and Cassidy (20). He has worked as a self-employed electrical contractor for 30 years, and has enjoyed an active life traveling with his family, open water scuba diving, Washington Capitals hockey games and snow skiing in the winter.

In 2020, all of that was threatened when a case of myocarditis caused by a virus led to Shawn being admitted to VCU Health with his heart, liver, and kidneys in failure. He was hospitalized for 9 weeks, eventually receiving the heart transplant that saved his life. His journey through sickness and recovery is a story about resilience, gratitude, and the power of health care teams to transform lives.