Our Story
A Message from the Founder, Matt Shiel
Zara
I’d like to introduce you to my 15-month-old daughter, Zara Antoinette Shiel.
Zara was born in Henderson, Clark County, Nevada. She was healthy, radiant, energetic and an absolute joy. Her short, perfect life ended suddenly in November 2014, within 18 hours of receiving routine vaccinations.
Finding her that morning was an awful and tragic experience. You will hear me refer to that day as “Z-Day”—the day vaccine injury, informed consent and this complicated, historically upsetting topic became part of my Nevadan life.
A Father’s Promise
After Z-Day, when I said goodbye to Zara for the last time, I made a promise—to her, to myself and, I guess in a way, to you reading this message.
I promised that one day, when the time was right, I would do something meaningful in response to what I believe was Zara’s vaccine-related death and our family’s dreadful experience.
Back then, I was angry, upset, overwhelmed and uninformed about this complicated topic.
As Zara lay before me in her little casket, I made a commitment to do whatever it took, no matter where it led me, to understand her sudden vaccine-related death and honor her short, perfect life.
The Long Journey
After Z-Day, it was bad. Then it became worse.
The more I learned about this complicated topic, the angrier and more upset I became.
I spent years navigating questions about Zara’s death and the federal vaccine-injury process. I met fellow vaccine-injury survivors, lived through the COVID pandemic and observed its aftermath. I searched for informed consent, understanding and a compassionate local community to help me—but for a long time, I found myself walking alone and I was very angry.
In recent years, that journey has led to peaceful recovery and an optimistic perspective.
It took a long time not to be angry about this topic. Eventually, Zara inspired me to find another way—one that begins and ends with love.
It was a difficult process to find the light in all this vaccine related darkness I encountered over the years.
But I had some help along the way and God willing with you reading this message we are going to switch the vibe up on this topic.
Like tune out the noise and focus first on getting back to basics.
Starting in Clark County, Nevada with “Love Thy Vaccine-Injured Neighbor” and kindly figure out what is best to do from there.
Long Story Short
After more than a decade of contemplation, Nevada Vax Watch has been reverse-engineered from my direct experience and observations as a vaccine-injury survivor.
It is being built to become the community, information, understanding and human support I desperately needed after Z-Day.
With your participation and support, it is time to help ensure that no vaccine-injury survivor in Nevada has to survive their experiences alone.
It is time to honor what people have lived through and learn from their experiences—so that what they have endured may one day become valuable to our community in ways we cannot yet know.
Through The Zara Project, we hope to listen carefully, preserve lived experience and contribute to more meaningful local conversations about informed consent.
Our mission is to help Nevada’s vaccine-injury survivors as best we are able, while building an organization grounded in kindness, calmness, wisdom, connection and respect.
The Work Begins
Nevada Vax Watch is the local community I wish had existed after Z-Day—a place where Nevadans can find connection, thoughtful education and human support without facing difficult questions alone.
The Zara Project is our work together inspired by Zara’s life: listening to people’s experiences, honoring what they have lived through and preserving what they choose to share with care.
Together, they put one guiding principle into action:
Love Thy Vaccine-Injured Neighbor.
We are going to attempt to find ALL of them. Listen to them. Welcome them and connect with them and each other.
As an authentically Nevadan community, we will honor their experiences so they are not lost—and make sure they know they are no longer alone.
We’ve Got to Start Somewhere
So, we are going to start with Together Tuesdays.
A simple, welcoming place to meet one another, begin real conversations and start building this community together.
It has been a long and difficult journey to get here. Now it is time to start enjoying the journey together—and see where, with a little love, kindness and authentically Nevadan community spirit, we can get to.
Every Tuesday · 6–8 PM · Clark County
Come as you are.