When Lorraine Airey’s son Tyrone was just four years old, he was diagnosed with sickle cell disease.
He took medication daily and most years he suffered several sickle cell crises, which caused excruciating pain in his back and chest, and often had to be admitted to hospital.
Sickle cell is a disorder where red blood cells are misshapen and often block blood vessels and fail to carry oxygen around the body – so Lorraine knew he faced a lifetime of hospital treatment.
