Mother-of-one, Marsha Howe, has lived with sickle cell all her life. In order to survive her “hidden disability” she undergoes what is known as a blood exchanges, where her sickle cell blood is “exchanged” for regular blood.
In the UK, the condition is common in people from an African or Caribbean family background. However, only three percent of donors who gave blood in the last 12 months are of black or Asian heritage, despite these ethnicities making up 14% of the total UK population.
Howe has joined a group 60 singers, known as the B Positive choir, to raise awareness and change perceptions within her own community. This is her story.