Today is Sickle Cell Awareness Day.
It is the fastest growing genetic disorder in the UK, with approximately 300 babies born with the disorder each year.
We wanted to raise awareness on such an important issue.
Evan Smith
Evan Smith was a 21-year-old who suffered from sickle cell, died on the 25th April 2019 he dialled 999 from his own hospital bed as his nurse refused to give him oxygen.
The coroner said there was a “failure” to appreciate the “significance” of Mr Smith’s symptoms.
In the inquest that followed it was discovered that Mr Smith, a football stats analyst, developed sepsis following a procedure at the hospital a week earlier to remove a gallbladder stent.
An 11-year-old sickle cell sufferer says there should be more support for people with the disease in the medical world.
Miai Phillip
Miai Phillip says “They shouldn’t be saying, ‘I haven’t heard of this before, or I don’t know what that is, you have been in this profession, so know your profession.”
Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary disease in which the body produces unusually shaped red blood cells that clump together, blocking blood vessels.
This results in painful episodes called sickle cell crises, which can last for weeks. In some cases, these can lead to organ failure and even death.
Supermodel Jourdan Dunn, spoke to the Sunday Times that how she suffered mentally, with the thought that she may have passed on sickle cell disease to her 11-year-old son Riley.
Jourdan is now a trustee of the Essenelle Foundation, a mental health charity providing support to people with sickle cell and their families.
The Sickle Cell Society is a great resource for support and education.
At the moment there is a lack of Black blood donors, as there is a rise in demand for some rare blood types that are more common in people of Black heritage.
Did you know that one blood donation saves three lives?
We would like to take this opportunity to send our respects to the families and loved ones of Evan Smith and Richard Okorogheye.
