For Lea Kilenga, life seemed normal until a new boy at her school encouraged other children not to sit next to her. The incident was her first realisation that there was a stigma to living with sickle cell disease.
Like her two sisters, Kilenga was diagnosed with the genetic blood condition in early childhood. The disease changes the shape of red blood cells from round to crescent-shaped. These cells then stick together, causing blood clots, intense pain and anaemia. The condition mainly affects people of African or Caribbean heritage.
