Background song: Memories

Every night, as he made his way to the exit, he made it a culture to pause, turn and shout: “My password is YOLO, all in capital letters just in case I don’t make it to work tomorrow, work must continue”.
Luckily for us, he made it to work every day except for this day when his seat was still vacant at 9:30 am. We immediately knew something was wrong because it was the first time since he joined the firm 3 years ago. When we reached out to him, his brother answered the call to say he had a crisis over the weekend and passed on early that morning. How? I thought, especially because I got a client brief from him the previous night. He was 30, his name ADEBOLA

She was one of the most energetic people I have ever met. Her smile, so bright regardless, her hug, so warm, her faith, so strong, her dreams, so big and she chased after them like her life depended on it. Well, I guess it did because though she’s gone, yet she lives on. Her name, WISDOM SHONIBARE.

In her husband’s words, she was the kind of person that leaves happy memories in your mind forever even if you met her only once.  Her friends described her as the special one, her fans knew her as the Area Mama, hearing her shout Area, was the warmth and energy needed to live through each day. Her name, Tosyn Bucknor.

These are just three stories out of the thousands of sickle cell warriors around the world.

Dami: Pause, what is the most painful illness you have ever had? Mine would be a toothache, it was intense. Now imagine, someone going through that magnitude of pain or even worse almost every other day, especially sometimes with no permanent solution in sight.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited red blood cell disorder characterized by rigid and sickle-shaped red blood cells that stick to the blood vessels, blocking blood flow resulting in intense pain episodes, stroke, and sometimes organ damage.

But hey, that’s not how this story ends. Meet Billy Garrett Jr, an NBA player dunking on sickle cell disease, Remember Laycon?

Here is Dimeji, a warrior helping creators communicate and feel heard. 

There’s Precious, yet another warrior helping thousands of entrepreneurs build globally-recognized businesses. 

Meet Alice, miss tourism Nigeria, southern queen, 

Sharon a sickle cell advocate,

Imabong an amazing content creator, 

Background song: Love somebody

Omini Ewah, cofounder obia naturals, 

Rebecca, Ebun, and every other warrior out there standing tall with their shoulders high, making waves, breaking norms, setting standards. 

Our dearest warriors,  today and always, we celebrate you. 

We see you, we love you and we are grateful for the gift of you.

Here’s what you can do to support these warriors? 

Donate blood

Stop stigmatization

No pity party

Donate money

Show up

Celebrate them 

Know your genotype and act : right.

Let’s be humans together.

Cheers