Leah Shields joined the First Coast News team in April 2020. She is a morning reporter with Good Morning Jacksonville and has re-branded the quarterly segment “Wake Up and Save”, sharing easy ways you can save money in your everyday life.
Leah joined First Coast News during the COVID-19 pandemic and became a part of the Vaccine Team, helping to answer questions about the COVID vaccine and reporting on vaccine developments in Jacksonville and throughout the First Coast.
As a Florida native, Leah is returning to her home state after anchoring and reporting for WPSD in Paducah, Kentucky for three years. She is a graduate of the University of Florida, majoring in telecommunications and minoring in theater.
Leah was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. She is very open about her heart disease and open-heart surgeries; she’s had open heart surgery in 1995 and 2010. About 1 in 100 people are born with a CHD and Leah works to share their stories, bringing awareness to one of the most common birth defects. She has worked closely with the Adult Congenital Heart Association, American Heart Association, and local hospitals to share stories and raise money for research.