I met an amazing young man at the CHOP Volunteer Summit the other day. He was around 22 years old and was one of the speakers at this event and shared with us that he was born with sickle cell. As an infant, he appeared to be normal for the first few weeks of life, but then something terrible happened, changing his life as well as his families forever. Diagnosed with this painfully debilitating disease, he has undergone painful surgeries, and has grown up living life completely different that what his mother originally planned.
He is now a volunteer, as well as a survivor, who speaks when invited and each time manages to humble everyone to silence. I went over to meet him after he spoke, since I felt we both had so much in common and probably a lot to share. He was gracious, kind, and I felt as if I had met my “other self”. We have walked the same mile in all of those other children’s shoes and we know what the journey is like. I gave him my card and asked him to take a look at what I do. I told him I would be in touch and that I would hope to inspire him to write his story as well. Maybe someday you all will get to meet this fine young man and hear his inspiring words of survival and triumph. I know that I am a changed person because I had the chance.
