Daniel Cressy spent the first 23 years of his life in and out of hospitals — sometimes six to twelve times a year during his worst periods. He had a dream to become a commercial airline pilot, but the FAA would not certify him because of his sickle cell disease. Then he learned something that changed everything: if he could be cured, the FAA would reconsider.
On June 22, 2026, Cressy rang the ceremonial bell at Manning Family Children's Hospital in New Orleans to mark the end of his treatment journey — the first person in Louisiana and the Gulf South to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease using Casgevy, the FDA-approved CRISPR-based gene therapy.
