Sickle Sagas – a Column by Dunstan Nicol-Wilson

Ah, here we go again. I should have known. If I drank more water, if I wore a hat, if I didn’t walk up all those stairs, if I didn’t eat so much, if I didn’t stress, if I didn’t have so much fun, I wouldn’t have had a crisis.

It’s summertime, my favorite season here in the U.K. Summer brings great music, good vibes, and no crises! Sigh, I wish. I love summer weather because one of my main triggers for a sickle cell crisis is the cold. Unfortunately, in the U.K., summer isn’t consistent in terms of…

COVID-19 restrictions are easing here in the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said we must “learn to live with this virus,” and he is lifting laws requiring masks and social distancing. It feels like the first real step toward a life after the unanticipated pandemic, though I can’t help…

With a chronic condition like sickle cell disease, I sometimes find it difficult to look far into the future. What exactly will my future be like? Will there be more hospital trips? More pain? More sadness? Reflecting on my origin story in a previous column prompted me to question…

I am going to take you behind the scenes of how this column, “Sickle Sagas,” came to be. I will show you everything about how I became an incredibly successful sickle cell advocate and storyteller who changed the world for the better. OK, I’m being slightly dramatic. I haven’t…

June 19 was both World Sickle Cell Day and Juneteenth! It wasn’t until last year that I learned about Juneteenth — forgive me, I’m a Londoner. Similarly, many of my peers found out about World Sickle Cell Day only after meeting me. Last year, Juneteenth was highlighted to…

Recently I have been engrossed in sagas about the viking king Ragnar Lothbrok as well as his famous sons’ exploits. A saga is a long story often involving herculean challenges. Although my life isn’t as dramatic as ruling over great nations or fighting for crowns, reading these stories has…