Her Sickled Journey

We’re getting to the end of a biology lesson and in an attempt to excite the class for the next lesson my teacher puts up a slide saying “Why people with sickle cell die young”.  I froze. I knew this lesson was coming eventually but I didn’t expect him to take that approach. I know my teacher meant no harm, I mean what were the chances that the only black girl in the sixth form had sickle cell? My teacher must have seen the blank expression on my face and he did some digging to find out if I had sickle cell or not. Once he confirmed his suspicions he called me to the side one day to ask me how I was, how I think he should approach the lesson and if I mind letting my classmates know. I told him that he should just continue the way he initially planned and that I didn’t want to tell my class mates. When the lesson finally came I could tell that my teacher significantly watered down the facts. With every symptom of SCA listed he added a disclaimer, he changed his stance from s...

I started this blog in 2013 with the aim to raise awareness of sickle cell anaemia and to share my experiences but my efforts continually fell short, but if the last year has taught me anything it's that you have to make time for the things you're passionate about and the things that are of importance to you, so with this newfound mindset I've decided to restart this blog.  Firsts things first...a bit about me: Name - When I first started this blog I was so adamant on keeping it anonymous. At the time most of my friends didn't even know I had sickle cell, if you knew it was strictly on a need to know basis, and that was the way I liked it because I noticed that when I told people about my health they'd start to feel sorry for me and constantly give me allowances, which I hate. However I realised the more I talk about my experiences the more I am able to help others, be someone that others can relate to and make a significant impact on the sickle cell commun...