Singer Adekunle Gold has spoken out about his struggles with sickle cell disease despite facing online abuse and attacks.
In a recent CNN interview, he shared his determination to raise awareness and support for others with the condition.
Adekunle Gold has lived with sickle cell disease and often put himself in situations that exacerbate his condition, such as playing football in the rain.
He said he has been hospitalised frequently and has experienced joint pain and other symptoms.
Despite this, he refuses to let the disease define him, instead, he wants to create a safe and supportive community for others with sickle cell disease, and to inspire them to speak openly about their struggles.
Through his music and advocacy, Adekunle aims to inspire others to speak openly about their struggles and to seek help when needed.
His song “5 Star” is a powerful tribute to sickle cell survivors and an important step in speaking out against the stigma and silence that often surrounds this condition.
He said: “I want people living with sickle cell to feel safe, to feel like they have help and support.
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“They call you a sickler… Recently, when I talked about it [my struggle with sickle cell] on the song [‘5-star’], I saw a lot of tweets from people attacking and abusing me.
“I’m speaking about sickle cell disease now because I just got the courage to come out and speak up openly about it. A lot of people can’t share their stories like I can.
“I’ve known about my sickle cell disease all my life. I knew since I was a child that I couldn’t do certain things. They said, ‘You know you have sickle cell, you can’t play football in the rain just like your peers.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want to play.’ I’ve always been rebellious.
“I’ve known about my sickle cell disease all my life because growing up, I had crises every time. I was in the hospital back-to-back.
“As a child, I constantly put myself in situations that made me sick. And it affected me a lot. For example, I’m not supposed to be in the rain, so what happened to me was that I would have pains in my joints from being in the rain. But I always knew that I didn’t want this thing [sickle cell] to define me.”
