Life-Saving Legacy

Derek Matthews continues his father’s legacy as a paramedic for LifeNet
By Terrica Hendrix

Derek says helping people is his favorite thing about being a paramedic. photo by shane darby.

In 2003, when Derek Matthews was just 5 years old, he was injured in a serious ATV accident. Once he recovered, his father, Shon, felt inspired to change careers: after nearly two decades working at Alumax Mill Products, Shon began pursuing a new vocation as a first responder. He joined a volunteer firefighter department as well as the first-responder team at the mill. He went on to attend EMS school, and in 2007, he joined LifeNet part-time and concurrently pursued paramedic education. In 2009, he was hired full-time.

Over the next 11 years, Shon proved to be an exceptional medic. He was promoted to field training officer, operations manager, and—his dream job—flight medic. He also worked as an instructor at Texarkana College’s EMT and paramedic program. In 2019, he received the Star of Life award from the American Ambulance Association—an honor that included an invitation to the White House. Only 108 people nationwide received the award in 2019.

The following September, Shon contracted COVID-19. After five weeks of illness, he died at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Temple, Texas. He was 48 years old. His death garnered national media attention, with outlets as large as People Magazine reporting on the hero’s accolades and tragic passing. Meanwhile, Shon’s family grieved and learned to carry on in Shon’s absence. 

Derek’s father, Shon, was a medic with LifeNet for 11 years. submitted photo.

Derek, then in his early 20s, heard a calling to follow in his father’s footsteps. He is currently in the beginning stages of his EMS career and has been a LifeNet paramedic for two years now. 

Derek’s 12-hour shifts are “anything but predictable,” he said. “On a good day, we will run about five calls—anything from ‘stubbed my toe’ to somebody actively dying, and anywhere in between. We may or may not get to sit around at a post waiting on the next call to come in. It might just be back-to-back-to-back until we clock out later that night. Wait times at the hospital are sometimes the only breaks we get.”

Whitney Williams was Shon’s EMT partner at LifeNet when Derek was a young boy. submitted photo.

The job “can get pretty stressful,” Derek said. “There are definitely times I go home at night just thinking about what I could’ve done differently.” He admitted that “there’s definitely some pressure there” with carrying on his father’s legacy. “I’ve been told by a few people that they expect more of me than others,” he said. 

On November 26th, 2024, three days after what would have been his 53rd birthday, Shon was inducted into the Texas EMS Hall of Honors. Derek and the rest of the Matthews family traveled to Fort Worth to accept the award on Shon’s behalf. A plaque in his honor has been hung at the Texas Department of Health EMS Central Office in Austin.

Derek and Shon went scuba diving in Cozumel, Mexico in May 2018. submitted photo.

While the national- and state-level accolades are meaningful, Derek and his family know that Shon’s legacy lives on in ways that no award could capture: Shon saved countless lives, not only through his frontline work but also through training, managing, and inspiring other medics, including his very own son.

Derek’s favorite part about being a paramedic is “helping people and the gratitude from the people who actually need us,” he shared. He said that he is considering attending nursing school in the future. “EMS will always hold a special place, but it’s just more job opportunities,” he said. “To see more, do more.”