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George

Home / Faces of SCD / George

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Warrior wings on a profile mean that this community member has passed away since our interview, but their legacy lives on through their impactful story.

I have sickle cell ss and have been a patient at UIC Hospital all my life. I’m going to be 51 years old. Right now, my illness is getting worse because as I get older, I’m having a lot of leg problems. It’s hard to walk because I’ve had leg ulcers for the last 10 years, but they were healing. I think now they’re trying to open back up.

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I’m trying to stay on, get around, and do stuff with sickle cell, but I have to limit myself. I love to stay involved. I’ve been trying to fight for UIC for a long time.

That’s what we got to do. We got to continue to help and support each other because if we don’t help each other, ain’t nobody going to do it. This year we got Peoria sickle cell [group] with us. They brought a group of 25 people. I was so glad and amazed. We need to get the state of Illinois together. We need to keep on fighting because the legislatures, they don’t even care.

I’ll tell people like that, whenever I go out and speak, I’ll tell people I have sickle cell, but sickle cell don’t have me.

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