Man's sickle cell disease cured after transplant

One of the first people in the UK to be cured of sickle cell disease says he now has a "great life".

J'rimaya Okojie had a stem cell transplant to treat the genetic blood disorder, which doctors diagnosed him with aged two.

After 40 years with the disease, Mr Okojie says he is now the first person with the disease from Brighton to be cured after he was among only a handful of people to get the treatment on the NHS.

Mr Okojie, known as Jae, told BBC Radio Sussex the difference in his health before and after the treatment was "like night and day".

People with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that do not live as long as healthy blood cells and can block blood vessels, according to the NHS.

The inherited disease is more common in people with an African or Caribbean family background.

Three of Mr Okojie's sisters died from the disease.

Mr Okojie, who works for the NHS, said the disorder "literally shaped my life" and he "missed school almost regularly" as a child.

The "crisis episodes" experienced as a result of the disease could last between two hours and two weeks and brought "unexplainable" pain, he said.

"Your body just shuts down," he added.

Dale Seviar, a consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, told BBC Radio Sussex the treatment Mr Okojie underwent was "very intensive".

Only a few patients are offered the treatment due to the risks involved, he said, but doctors were "finally at a stage where we are speaking to patients more and more about curative treatments".

Stem cell transplants were approved for adults in 2019 and gene therapy was approved for NHS use in January, he added.

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