A promise becomes Keishanna’s purpose
When Keishanna talks about her son, Treyvon, her voice softens and then grows strong again, filled with pride.
“He was spontaneous, intelligent and hilarious,” she says. “He took the PSAT at 12. He dreamed of going to Harvard. He loved his little sister, and he loved life.”
Treyvon's life changed quickly when he was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma at just 12 years old. “It all happened so fast,” she remembers. “One moment he was planning for college, the next, we were living in the hospital.”
As her son began treatment, Keishanna’s world narrowed to monitors, doctors’ rounds, and sleepless nights. “My daughter was just a toddler,” she says. “I was trying to raise a healthy child and a dying child at the same time. They both needed my love and attention, and I gave it.”
Through it all, one voice kept reaching out. It was a care navigator from her health plan.
“At first, I was rude to her,” Keishanna admits. “I hung up on her. I didn’t want resources or better doctors. I wanted a miracle.”
But the navigator kept calling. Gently. Consistently. “One day, I picked up the phone,” says Keishanna. “She didn’t bring up how I’d treated her. She just listened.”
That conversation changed everything. The navigator found support programs Keishanna hadn’t known existed. “She became family,” says Keishanna. “She stuck with me until the very end.”
Before Treyvon passed, he asked his mother to promise three things: Make me famous. Keep making people laugh. Keep talking to people the way you do in the cancer ward.
After his passing, Keishanna wanted to do something meaningful. For years, she had worked as an optician. But now, she wanted to do something that honored her son’s memory. That same navigator said, “Why don’t you become a navigator?”
So she did. Keishanna joined UnitedHealthcare as a member advocate. “I started to help people the same way that she helped me,” she says. “I understood and I was once that person on the other side. Everything starts with compassion and empathy. It’s personal.”
Recently, Keishanna was honored with a UnitedHealthcare Service Hero award, which recognizes remarkable team members who make a difference. “That wasn’t just an award,” she says. “Showing up being a great navigator was fulfilling a promise to my son, and it became my life work. ”
Today, Keishanna continues to inspire others not just through her work with UnitedHealthcare, but through laughter. In her free time, she performs stand-up comedy and is a motivational speaker. “I take losing my son and I use it as the foundation of the person I’ve become today. I never miss an opportunity to inspire people, to motivate people and to help people see the bright side,” mentions Keishanna.
“When I was in the hospital with my son, laughter was our medicine,” Keishanna says. “Now I get to share that healing with others — one story, one smile, one call at a time.”
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