Afrobeats singer Adekunle Gold encourages sickle cell survivors
The singer, who was diagnosed with the ailment at birth, addressed sickle cell survivors and encouraged them at a recent performance. He charged them, stating that if he can go through life amid the crises they too can.
“Our sickle cell survivors, our warriors that are currently going through it. If I can do it, you can do it. I was born with sickle cell, I grew up with sickle cell and all my life I fought with it. But I’m thankful that I was able to manage it. I don’t fall sick, I don’t know how that’s happened but I’m thankful,” he said.
He encouraged them to continue doing all that they want to do in life, regardless of their condition.
“This is me reaching out to everyone currently going through it, having to deal with the cramps and all the crises. It should never stop you, you know. Look at me, I’m a superstar now despite living with sickle cell. Nothing should stop you,” he continued.
The singer has been open about his battle with sickle cell and his struggles surrounding it. Back in 2022, he revealed that he was born with the deficiency and described it as a “life or death” situation.
“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,”he said.
Adekunle Gold, also known as AG Baby, is a Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter currently signed to Def Jam Recordings. He gained widespread attention after releasing the 2015 hit single “Sade”, a highlife cover of One Direction’s “Story of My Life”.
In his newsletter released on Friday, July 15, 2022, he highlighted the restrictions he had during his formative years and how hard life was for him as a result of his ailment.
He said in part: “I lived with restrictions all my childhood. 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.”
“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,” he continued.
He also warned the sickle cell warriors against allowing the ailment to define them and their lives.
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