Kehinde and Angel's story
Kehinde and his daugher Angel are shining a spotlight on living with sickle cell.
Kehinde and 13-year-old Angel Salami both live with the blood condition sickle cell.
Angel was diagnosed with the condition at birth and mostly her condition has been managed with medication but Angel has been rushed to hospital when experiencing a frightening sickle cell crisis.
Kehinde said: “Angel often feels fatigued and can have headaches too however her first crisis was a really frightening time.
“Angel became unwell but it quickly became very severe where Angel’s tongue turned blue and she was rushed to hospital with dangerously low haemoglobin levels and a lack of oxygen in her blood due to the sickle cell crisis.
“Angel required a blood transfusion and a blood exchange, I am forever grateful to those donors that helped at that time as without that blood she might not have recovered.”
Kehinde was also born with sickle cell but only became aware of the condition when he experienced his first crisis while in his 20’s and at university in Manchester.
Kehinde said: “I woke up one night in serious pain and flatmates had to take me to hospital. It took some time for medics to diagnose me at the time, originally thinking I had cancer.
“Over the years it has been hard to adjust and has had a profound impact on my life.
“Sickle cell is not well understood and taking time off work to recover from the side effects has been challenging.
“I have a lot of pain in my joints and I have also lost the sight in my left eye.
“Initially I also didn’t speak about it due to the level of stigma and 'being male' but as time has gone on I know how important it is to raise awareness of Sickle Cell and 9 years ago I set up my own support charity – SickleKan with the aim to raise awareness and increase understanding.
“It is important for us to remind people how blood donors can help patients with sickle cell.
“Many of the patients I have worked with over the years have relied on regular blood transfusions and exchanges.
“These donations need to be as closely matched as possible from donors in the Black heritage community. It is imperative we keep spreading the message and reminding the community how blood donations help people."
Kehinde and Angel work with NHS Blood and Transplant to raise awareness and are the inspiration for the new children’s book ‘My blood, your blood’.
