Late last week, I lost one of my high school friends to Sickle cell. One friend lost, is one too many in my opinion. I wish I could hug everyone that has ever been impacted by Sickle cell, but I can’t. I wish I could take away sickle cell, but I can’t. I wish I could find a cure for Sickle cell, so another family doesn’t have to go through the same heartache, but I can’t. The only thing I can do right now is write, so I will write about how there needs to be a cure to this terrible disease.

For those who aren’t aware, Sickle cell (or sickle cell anemia or disease) is an inherited illness, that affects the red blood cells, causing them to become misshapen and ultimately break down. Sickle cell disease doesn’t have a cure, and it mainly affects black people. Hundreds of thousands of black people are living with an incurable, life-threatening disease. They are dealing with high pain levels and having doctors who don’t believe their pain is high enough to get the drugs they need to help the pain stop. Who are we to tell them no? We don’t live with their pain, they do.

There are those people who will say, “What about Cystic fibrosis? Or Crohn’s disease?” Yes, I am aware that both diseases cut the lifetimes of their sufferer’s short. I am also aware of the one thing they have that Sickle cell doesn’t: Money.

According to Mother Jones, in 2011 Cystic fibrosis gained $254 million in research compared to the $66 million that sickle cell got. Yes, $66 million is a lot of money for research, but when you think about the fact that Sickle cell affects three times as many people as Cystic fibrosis does, it is not that much.

While pain and money are some of the obstacles that those who suffer from Sickle cell go through, there is more to it than that. Before my friend unfortunately passed away, I didn’t know of anyone who suffered from Sickle cell, nor had I seen or heard any commercials about the hardships of Sickle cell, which seems to be the biggest problem in my eyes. The advocacy of Sickle cell is close to none, which is a big deal as to why people don’t know about the hardships people face. In order to get the word out about sickle cell, there needs to be more information about the disease and more funding to help those who are struggling.

So, if you want to help someone who is suffering with sickle cell, here are a few helpful tips. The first thing you can do is, just be there for them anyway you can. Sickle cell disease can also cause kidney failure, so if you are able to donate a kidney, it might go to someone with Sickle cell. If you don’t feel comfortable living with one kidney, you can also donate bone marrow, or blood and the good news is, you have a never ending supply of both.

September is also Sickle cell awareness month, so spend the next 30 days learning more about Sickle cell.