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Besides research texts and clinical studies, one of the best ways to learn about sickle cell is by hearing the stories from actual warriors, themselves. Read on for 10 first-hand accounts of what it's really like to live with SCD.

The Bad Blood: My Life with Sickle Cell Anaemia
"I wake up with an active volcano for a chest. When I breathe in, even lightly, I hear wheezing for miles. I don’t want to call the doctor but I call the doctor. Fifteen minutes later a receptionist leaves me a voicemail: If I can get to the surgery within the hour, I’ll be seen. I’m not sure how I make it down the stairs – and into the car and through the 20-minute journey and out of the car and across the courtyard and into the reception and down the corridor to knock on the doctor’s door – now that my limbs are made of lead." Read the entire article here.

"I Had This Disease That Nobody Understood."
"When Brianne Lee — a 19-year-old aspiring cosmetologist from Maple Shade, New Jersey — was hospitalized back in June for a sickle cell-related illness, the last thing she expected was for her roommate situation to go all the way left. 'I had only been in the room for a day, and I knew I was to have a roommate seeing as it was a double room,' Brianne says. 'A mother and her daughter, who was about 11, walked in and settled down in the room. The mother asked the nurse what I was diagnosed with because she couldn’t have her child [who already had lupus] getting even more sick,' she explains. 'Eventually, she found out I have sickle cell disease and lashed out. She requested she and her child be put in a single room and that they deserved it because they didn’t know if I was contagious. It was absolutely shocking.'" Read more here.

Sickle Cell Patient Refuses to Let Disease Define Her
"When I was 5 years old, I was riding the new bike I had just gotten for Christmas when I fell off and the handle bars hit me in the ribcage. That night I began having difficulty breathing. I was rushed to the local hospital and within hours I had stopped breathing. I was moved to intensive care, revived, and placed on a respirator. The critical care doctors and the hematologist worked day and night to figure out what was happening to me ... Around the seventh day, my condition stabilized and it was learned that I was suffering from an acute chest syndrome, a condition common among sickle cell patients." For the entire story, click here.

Naomi's Story
“I want people to know that I love sports,” Naomi says. “I love throwing a football. I love doing dance and pointé and sometimes it hurts my toes, but I still get through it. I would say stay strong and you’re going to get through the hard times and get to the good times. And don’t say you’re going to live short, because you’re going to live long." Read more here.

Patient Voices: Sickle Cell Anemia
Here, you'll have a chance to hear the stories of six sickle cell warriors, ranging in age from 8 years old to 50 years old. Listen to each of their stories, here.