Adekunle Gold Reveals He Is Sickle Cell Anemia Carrier

Nigerian singer, Adekunle Gold has revealed to his fans that he is a sickle cell anemia carrier. The 79th Element recording artiste made this known in his latest newsletter that he published on Friday, July 15. “It feels liberating to finally be able to share this part of my life with you, to finally be able to speak my truth. When I talk about how I struggled to get to where I am today, I need you to know that my struggle was real,” he wrote. His statement reads further; “I was born with sickle cell disease. It was life and death, it was physical, mental, and financial, you name it and I went through it all. It was tough, painful and frustrating. I lived with a sickness no one around me understood. I lived with restrictions all my childhood.” The father of one recounted how he was deprived of the fun parts of childhood because of the illness. “I wasn’t able to join some of the most minor childhood play and liberating activities like going out in the rain. The times when I insisted and rebelled against my parents’ orders and went out in the rain, I would end up having a crisis,” he recounted. “The nights were painful and lonely, nights that no one could help me get through. It was just me, God and my mind. The pains and shivers were unbearable.” Gold also shared the harrowing nights he had a crisis and how his poor family could hardly afford to take care of his hospital bills. “They always came in the night, when my family had no means to transport me to a hospital. We simply couldn’t afford the constant hospital bill so I had no choice but to endure the pain,” he shared. “My mum wanted me to be well. She did her best. She took me to all the churches she could find. I’m grateful for her because she saw the future in me. A future where no illness or sickness could hold me back from my purpose, from the life I was destined to live.” “Sickle cell disease took away my freedom, my childhood. I lost friends, a lot of them. Some didn’t understand the restrictions and rules I had to live by, some just didn’t want to deal with my illness or thought it was a nasty or contagious disease that they could catch. I was a burden for some, living with sickle cell is far from living a normal life.