When André Harris Marcel arrived at the emergency room last July, he wasn’t sure if he would make it out alive. Marcel, a 34-year-old Houston resident who is pursuing a doctorate in social work at the University of Houston, lives with sickle cell disease and is a longtime advocate for sickle cell patients. Those living with the rare, hereditary disease have rigid, crescent-shaped red blood cells. Due to their curved shape, these cells can become stuck in small blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood and causing stroke, infection, and extreme pain—conditions known as a sickle cell crisis. There is currently no cure for sickle cell disease, only techniques for managing symptoms. Last summer, Marcel experienced such a crisis: He woke up with a fever that didn’t break after taking Tylenol and was experiencing pain so severe that he could barely move or speak. He knew he needed to head to the emergency room—his fever might mean an infection, which for those living with sickle cell disease could be fatal.
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