The Times - Sickle cell disease is spreading through the UK

Pamela Gyebi-Ababio, 18, first realised she had sickle cell disease when she started primary school. “I was always cold and had to wear socks and tights and I remember the head teacher picking on me for this in front of the whole school. It was horrid and I cried. As a result my parents moved me to another school.”

When she was eight, dancers from the Royal Ballet School came to the school to encourage more children to dance. “I loved dancing and got into the final of a competition for a place at the Royal Ballet School but had to pull out,” says Pamela.

“The pain starts at my waist, goes down my legs and back up again. It feels as though my thighs are being stabbed with a knife and that someone is chiselling away inside my shins while someone else is hammering them from the outside. I think my legs are about to snap in two.”

Read more at : https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article4790785.ece