Popular Nigerian Singer and Father-of-one, Adekunle Gold has opened up on the struggles he had with his health when he was much younger due to him being born with Sickle Cell Anaemia.
In an open letter to his fans, the “orente” crooner revealed that there were days when health crisis came and he wished he died becaue the pain was too much for him to bear.
Read his letter below;
It feels liberating to finally be able to share this part of my life with you, to finally be able to speak my truth. When I talk about how I struggled to get to where I am today, I need you to know that my struggle was real.
I was born with sickle cell disease. It was life and death, it was physical, mental, financial, you name it and I went through it all. It was tough, painful and frustrating. I lived with a sickness no one around me understood, I lived with restrictions all my childhood.
I wasn’t able to join some of the most minor child play and liberating activities like going out in the rain. The times when I insisted and rebelled against my parents orders and went out in the rain, I would end up having a crisis.
The nights were painful and lonely, nights that no one could help me get through. It was just me, God and my mind. The pains and shivers were unbearable.
They always came in the night, when my family had no means to transport me to a hospital. We simply couldn’t afford the constant hospital bills so I had no choice but to endure the pain.
My mum wanted me to be well, she did her best. She took me to all the churches she could find, I’m grateful for her because she saw a future for me.
A future where no illness or sickness could hold me back from my purpose. From the life I was destined to live.
Sickle cell disease took away my freedom, my childhood. I lost friends, a lot of them. Some didn’t understand the restrictions and rules I had to live by, some just didn’t want to deal with my Illness or thought it was a nasty or contagious, etc