LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - Approximately 4 or 5 out of every 10,000 newborns in 11 states are born with sickle cell disease (SCD).
SCD is a disorder that is chronic at best and terminal at worst. My daughter, Ishala, was one of those babies, young people, and then adults. Then she was gone.
SCD impacts a person's red blood cells, making their cells what we call sickle or crescent moon shaped. It impedes oxygen throughout the body. It causes severe pain and is life-threatening.
Repeated blood transfusions are one treatment to help sufferers have a better quality of life.
That is one reason Our Blood Institute kicked off a legacy blood drive in honor of my daughter and all the other sufferers.
"We know that many, many African Americans are more likely to have sickle," Cline-Bear said. "Cell and so the closer you are ethnically to your match, the better it is for the patients and patients that go through reaching blood transfusions, which we've already said sickle. Cell patients do, they can get antibodies against their donors. So it's vitally important that we have multiple donors for those patients."
The Legacy Drive will take place all week, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 20, at 211 SW A Ave in Lawton.