npr.org
Olaide Adekanbi has been struggling with sickle cell disease all her life.
“It’s almost like I’m battling myself,” says Adekanbi, 29, who lives in Boston. “Sort of like a dark, I don’t know if you’d call it like evil within, [but] sometimes it feels like [it].”
The rare genetic blood disease is caused by a genetic mutation that causes red blood cells to become deformed, sickle-shaped. These misshapen cells clog blood vessels, damaging vital organs and causing unpredictable, debilitating attacks of pain.
