DALLAS — Shelley Luther, the Dallas salon owner who garnered attention in 2020 during COVID-19 shutdown orders, has made her first comments since she suffered a brain aneurysm nearly a month ago.
Luther was hospitalized April 5 and was able to return home to continue recovering just last week.
Her husband, Tim Georgeff, had been posting updates on Facebook about her health status each day since the aneurysm. Since returning home, he said she's still dealing with symptoms such as lack of appetite.
Now, Luther has broken her silence on her condition and posted a message on her public Facebook page on Wednesday, May 3.
"I wanted to thank everyone who has called, prayed, messaged, sent cards and reached out. I have a long way to go to fully recover, but feeling very blessed," Luther wrote. "Apparently, God chose me to be the 1% to survive this specific brain aneurism, and although I feel lucky, I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to be obedient and to live with gratitude."
After the message was published, Georgeff made another Facebook post saying that "typing and figuring out words is hard for her right now."
Luther made national headlines during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when certain businesses were shutting down to prevent spreading of the illness.
Luther had reopened her Dallas salon despite county and state orders that shut down non-essential businesses. She was issued a citation but later tore it up during a rally to reopen businesses in the Texas.
At a court hearing after she ignored a temporary restraining order from the city and kept her salon open, a state district judge found her in contempt of court and ordered her to seven days in jail. She was released from jail early after an order from the Texas Supreme Court.
Later in 2020, she ran as a Republican for a Texas Senate seat in District 30, which covers areas of North Texas such as Sherman, Denton, Weatherford and Stephenville. She lost in a special runoff election in December 2020 to Drew Springer.
Nearly two years later, Luther also ran for Texas House District 62 in the Sherman area. She lost to incumbent Rep. Reggie Smith in the March 2022 primary.
