Below Deck Mediterranean‘s Captain Sandy Yawn put an emergency room on blast for allegedly not treating wife Leah Shafer‘s painful health issues.
“My wife Leah is in visible, debilitating pain — red, swollen eye, extreme light sensitivity, and sharp shooting pain through her brow — and the ER sent her home with, ‘We don’t know what’s wrong, here’s some pain meds!’ Are you kidding me,” Sandy captioned an Instagram post on Saturday, January 17, about the health scare.
Sandy elaborated on Leah’s symptoms alongside photos, adding, “A CT scan confirmed a 3.5 cm mucus retention cyst in her sinus cavity. Ophthalmology says her eyes ‘look healthy.’ ENT says it may be neurological. Some doctors say post-COVID.”
Leah, meanwhile, has been “miserable and suffering” while trying to get a diagnosis.
“The most disturbing part? The bedside manner in the ER was dismissive. No urgency. No ownership. Just pain medication and uncertainty. When care falls between specialties, patients fall through the cracks — especially women in pain,” Sandy continued. “This isn’t just Leah’s story. It’s a systemic failure!!!!”
She concluded: “Things need to change in the medical system. Meanwhile, she’s still miserable. She runs her skin studio at Skin By Leah in Ponte Vedra beach Florida as a medical esthetician. She’s extremely passionate about her job and clients being in beauty industry over 30 years! She takes the TIME and cares for her patients. She deserves answers and relief so she can get back to what she loves.”
Sandy and Leah started dating in 2019 after connecting on social media.
“It’s because of Below Deck that Leah reached out to me because she watched the show and she wrote to me, ‘Congratulations on the show. Many blessings.’ And that caught my attention,” Sandy recalled on an episode of the show in September 2024. “So I clicked on a link and she was singing. I was like, ‘OK, I have to meet her.’”
After getting engaged on screen, Sandy and Leah tied the knot in May 2024 with several Below Deck franchise stars in attendance. The pair spoke to Us Weekly about what was next for them shortly after their nuptials.
“At this stage of our lives … every moment we have together, we make it into a honeymoon,” Leah shared in May 2024. “Like, it doesn’t have to be set days. Even yesterday, we’re walking around Tampa and we just saw this little green two-seater boat and we’re like, ‘Let’s take it out.’ You know, every second is a honeymoon for us.”
She continued: “We’re just so lucky to find this kind of love at this stage in our lives and to have the acceptance by our family and friends. It really is a beautiful love story and celebration, and that’s the truth.”
Leah expressed excitement about her plans to change her last name. “For me, [getting married] was so surreal,” she added at the time. “Sandy was telling everybody that she didn’t realize how marriage felt so amazing [and] to know that I’m actually going to take her name — and I’m in the midst of changing my name to Leah Rae Yawn — [and] to not be a girlfriend anymore, it just feels good to be like, ‘Wow, I’m her wife.’”
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