Our Stories

Healthier Children. A Better World.™

Email To Friend Email To Friend Print Print
Font Size: Increase Font Size Decrease Font Size

Our Kids - Meet Asaiah

Three-year old Asaiah is growing up with sickle cell disease. Asaiah shares the trait with his brother Shomari, but only Asaiah has the fully expressed disease. Asaiah was diagnosed when he was six months old, and his paediatrician referred him to the SickKids Sickle Cell Clinic.

Asaiah

Asaiah, Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects the red blood cells. Sickle cell disease flares up when distorted blood cells get stuck in the small veins and prevent normal blood flow. These blockages cause pain in the arms, legs, back and stomach. Sometimes this pain is quite severe. The problems of sickle cell disorder are variable - most children go through good and bad patches.

Children with sickle cell disease require ongoing surveillance and must visit the hospital every six months. Over time, sickle cell sufferers can experience damage to organs such as the liver, kidney, lungs, heart and spleen.

The Sickle Cell Clinic at SickKids cares for approximately 500 children with sickle cell disease on an ongoing basis. It offers a unique ‘passport’ project for Sickle Cell patients. Since many patients visit multiple health-care sites, the ‘passport’ contains a child’s important medical information and updates from each health-care visit. The passport is an evolving summary of each child’s medical records. Parents enjoy having more control of their children’s medical information.

Asaiah’s family has come to know the staff at the Sickle Cell Clinic and in the Emergency Room and have been most impressed by the fact that many of them know Asaiah and often identify him “without a glance at his chart.”

Asaiah’s family organizes Amali events in support of sickle cell research and programs at SickKids. Amali means “Hope” and the family hopes that with the funds raised, new research will be able to find a cure for the genetic disease.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Thousands of children like Asaiah need your support.