A man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has bravely shared his personal account of living with sickle cell trait at the age of 28.
In his statement which was sent to a media user identified as Postsubman, the young man revealed that there was a dark period in his life when he seriously considered ending it all.
His statement
"I'm a 28-year-old living with sickle cell in Lagos. Before my dad died, he abandoned me, and my mom, who was my strength, passed away a few years ago."
"Since then, I've become heavily addicted to smoking. Surprisingly, I noticed that my health improved when I started smoking heavily, with fewer crises and less pain. I read that weed can help reduce pain, so I turned to it."
"Growing up, I never thought I would live to see 28 because I had a cousin with the same situation, and she died at 24 years old."
"After much research, I gave up on life. I considered it wickedness to go to the university because we're poor, and I can't put my mom through extra expenses because my existence is already a huge expense."
"I've always hated myself and how I stressed everyone with my crises. I didn't have much fun as a kid, and I was basically prepared to die at 24 years old."
"I decided to go into music production because I love music and it has less stress, but it was a total failure because music business without investment is like fetching water with a basket."
"I've had different passions that are capable of making money, and passion without hard work is useless. However, I can't overwork myself because it's another crisis. It's like my reward for trying to work hard is unbearable pain nonstop for weeks."
"There's a limit to what I can do, and losing my sickle cell niece at 15 years old was a reality check. Yahoo (online fraud) didn't favor me, and I can't do what other boys are doing. I can't go to "Baba lawo" (traditional healers) or do rituals."
"Over a week ago, I decided to quit smoking, and my body is showing worse signs now. It's now 100% clear that smoking was saving me."
"I hate smoking; it gives me good feelings, but it also messes up my productivity. I don't have many friends, I don't go out, and I don't have a girlfriend, even though getting a woman is extremely easy for me (I'm pretty confident)."
"My love life is a mess because apparently, you can't love someone if you can't love yourself. I don't know what to do. They said having a kid would reduce the crises, and I did. Well, that has worsened my situation with too much responsibility."
"I find it hard to make ends meet, which was what motivated me to stop smoking and fix up my life. But I can feel my body failing, getting weaker, and I know for sure that the crises are coming. I felt sick last week, spent all I have for hospital treatment, and this week, I'm sick again."
"I have no idea what to do. I can't get myself to focus on online tech courses. I can't disturb my siblings because life is already hard for them. I don't beg; I hate feeling pitied, and handouts will only destroy the little confidence I have in myself."
"I don't do blood transfusions because I can't afford them. Using painkillers worsens my ulcer, and the painkillers for ulcer patients are not effective."
"I don't want to go back to smoking, and I don't want to leave my child how my father left me. This cold weather is like poison to me, and I can see myself giving up soon."
"My mental health is zero, and bills can't pay themselves. I earn little change through digital marketing, but it's only enough for food and medication. I can't even afford the proper medication."
"People in my situation, please, how did you do it? How did you overcome this terrible curse called sickle cell? I never prepared myself to live this long. I never thought it was possible."
"I don't want to go back to smoking. It was hard to quit, and I don't miss it. What do I do?"
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