Bridget O'Shea Obituary

O'Shea , Bridget

Bridget Ann O'Shea was a journalist, author, poet, animal rights advocate, and incredibly brave and kind person who died July 14 of cardiac arrest after battling a long and disabling disease. She was 47 years old.

Born in Washington D.C., she lived in the Chicago area most of her life. A graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, Bridget also attended Chicago Academy for the Arts and Bard College at Simon's Rock, a school for students capable of handling college life early, in Great Barrington, MA. She was also a graduate of a science writer's certificate program at the University of Chicago.

A dedicated animal lover and pet shelter volunteer, Bridget worked in public relations for the Chicago Council for the Humanities before she embarked on a veterinary technician degree at the Vet Tech Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. She soon returned to her roots as a journalist when she took a job at the Chicago News Cooperative (CNC), a partnership between Chicago journalists and The New York Times.

When the CNC was sold to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bridget became a reporter for the Pioneer Press newspapers owned by the Sun-Times. Among other assignments, she covered Barrington in Chicago's suburbs. After the Chicago Tribune acquired the Pioneer Press papers, Bridget covered Winnetka until she took a buy-out when financial problems rocked the news industry.

She soon enrolled and graduated from DePaul University's grant writing program and went to work for Father Michael Pfleger at St. Sabina's Catholic Church on Chicago's south side.

Bridget managed to work despite suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a disabling autoimmune disease. However, it worsened and disabled her in the early 2020s. Nevertheless, she began writing a Substack newsletter, ME/CFS Evolving Awareness, that exposed the shocking lack of research on a disease that impacts millions around the world. She crusaded against the medical profession's apathy toward the disease that took her life. She also wrote a book about her experience that she had just finished before she perished.

Even in her final days, Bridget remained passionate about the lack of attention and care for ME/CFS victims and wrote movingly about their plight.

She is survived by her parents, Nancy and James O'Shea, a brother Brian, a sister-in-law Elizabeth Condo, two nephews Rowan and Gavin O'Shea, several aunts and uncles, and the many friends and colleagues she met on her remarkable journey of courage. She will be terribly missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks that contributions be made in her name to the Solve ME/CFS Initiative at [email protected]

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