A Daughter’s Grief, a Question of Conscience: Elisha Cummings Remembers Shirley Ann Figaro

Patient & Family Narrative · Personal Account

In this Jehovah's Witness blood policy family narrative, Elisha Cummings recalls seeking religious guidance as her aunt needed additional blood transfusions—and the grief that endured after Shirley Ann Figaro died on July 9, 2024.

As told by Elisha Cummings · Edited and contextualized by AJWRB Staff · Updated October 31, 2026

The Aunt Who Was Her Mother

In a photograph shared with AJWRB, Elisha Cummings stands beside Shirley Ann Figaro. For Elisha, Shirley was much more than an aunt. She was the woman who raised her and whom she knew as her mother.

Elisha recalls that Shirley lived with disabilities from birth, including difficulties with hearing, eyesight, speech, and walking. She also had longstanding heart problems and other health complications. Yet Elisha's memories begin not with those conditions, but with the relationship that defined her childhood.

“She was not just my auntie. She was the mother I grew up with.” — Elisha Cummings

Elisha became one of Jehovah's Witnesses about 20 years ago and remains a Witness today. She never imagined that a medical emergency involving the person she loved so dearly would leave her questioning a decision she believed was required by her faith.

July 2024: A Medical Emergency

In July 2024, Shirley was hospitalized after an episode of dangerously elevated blood pressure. According to Elisha, doctors discussed a possible pressure-related problem involving a blood vessel in Shirley's head. Blood tests also showed a severely low blood count, and Elisha was told that an urgent transfusion was needed.

Elisha has since clarified a significant detail: Shirley received an initial unit of blood. Her doctors then determined that additional transfusions were urgently necessary. Elisha says relatives donated blood, but she understood that further blood was not readily available and that obtaining it involved additional expense and delays.

What Elisha describes is therefore not a refusal of blood by Shirley. Rather, it is a family's reported struggle to obtain enough blood for continuing treatment, and Elisha's conflict over whether she herself could help.

When Religious Guidance Shaped Her Decision

Elisha wanted to donate blood for her aunt. But because she was a Jehovah's Witness, she sought advice from elders in her congregation.

She recalls that the elders showed her scriptures and explained that she should not donate blood. According to Elisha, they warned that an attempt to save Shirley's life through blood donation might place her relationship with Jehovah in jeopardy. They encouraged her to focus on the hope of seeing her aunt again in the promised new world.

Elisha then asked whether she could at least contribute money toward purchasing the blood that the family was trying to obtain. She says she was told that financial assistance for that purpose would also be inappropriate. Trusting the counsel she received, she chose not to donate or contribute money.

“I really thought it was the right thing I was doing.” — Elisha Cummings

On July 9, 2024, Shirley Ann Figaro died. Elisha reports that Shirley deteriorated rapidly after delays in securing additional blood and difficulties obtaining needed blood privately. She understands the death to have involved complications of severe anemia and blood loss.

Those medical details are significant, but they remain Elisha's report of what she was told and understood. Without medical records, AJWRB cannot independently confirm the precise cause of death, the role of any blood-supply delay, or whether an additional donation or financial contribution would have changed the outcome.

Grief That the Policy Changes Could Not Resolve

For Elisha, the death of the woman who raised her brought profound grief. With the passage of time, that grief was joined by questions about the religious guidance she had followed.

She does not describe herself as someone who acted carelessly or without love. She describes a person trying to honor both her aunt and the teachings she sincerely believed. The decision that once seemed right now weighs heavily on her.

Her pain has also been compounded by what she experienced when she tried to discuss it with fellow believers. Elisha says she confided in a sister in her congregation, but felt that the woman distanced herself. She also recalls being encouraged to trust the Governing Body and watch organizational videos, when what she most needed was a compassionate listener.

“Sometimes a person does not need a video or an explanation,” she wrote. “Sometimes they need compassion, understanding, and a safe place to express what is in their heart.”

What Changed in September 2026

On September 18, 2026, Jehovah's Witnesses announced that members could decide for themselves whether to accept the four main components of donated blood—red cells, white cells, plasma, and platelets—and whether to donate blood for the stated purpose of providing components or fractions. Transfusion of donor whole blood remains prohibited. ^{1, 2}

These changes gave Elisha reason to revisit a painful decision made more than two years earlier, under the religious guidance she understood at the time.

But the comparison requires care. Elisha has not identified the precise product Shirley required or how a potential donation would have been processed. The 2026 change does not establish that Elisha's proposed donation would have been permitted in every form, much less that it would have saved Shirley's life. Nor has AJWRB established that the advice Elisha recalls about contributing money reflected a universal written rule of the organization.

Remembering Shirley Ann Figaro

Elisha's story begins and ends with Shirley: a woman who lived with disabilities and health difficulties, raised a child who loved her as a mother, and died on July 9, 2024. The photograph they shared is a reminder of a relationship that was far larger than one medical crisis.

Elisha remains a Jehovah's Witness. What she seeks is the freedom to grieve, to ask sincere questions, and to be heard without being judged.

“My grief deserves compassion, and my questions deserve to be treated with understanding, not rejection.” — Elisha Cummings

Her testimony cannot settle the medical causes of Shirley's death. It does, however, illuminate the emotional consequences that can follow when family loyalty, religious authority, and urgent medical needs converge—and why those consequences deserve a place in the ethical discussion of religious medical policies.

Revised October 31, 2026, incorporating Elisha Cummings's clarification of October 30, 2026. Contributor approved publication of the article and photograph on October 31, 2026.