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By Ebele Orakpo
“I am fed up. I am going back to my home town with my children; at least family and friends will always be at hand to assist me when the need arises. I thought joining my husband in Lagos will bring about the much needed relief but no, he is out of town most of the time so I am left alone to take care of the two kids and myself.
What happens if two or three of us have crisis at the same time! I shudder to think about that.” These were the words of Mrs Zulia Hassan (not real names), a mother living with sickle cell disease, SCD, with two kids also living with SCD.
Almost every week, one of them is hospitalised. Although they knew their genotypes, they still got married knowing the consequences because the husband said he couldn’t jilt her as that would have been cruel based on his religious belief. Now, is bringing innocent children into the world to suffer not worse cruelty?
Tomorrow, June 19, is World Sickle Cell Day so your favourite…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
