By Gabriel Olawale

Living with Sickle Cell Disorder could be really challenging and traumatic. However, there are persons living with this disorder who have resolved to live a life that is not defined by their illness. With sheer determination and They have been able to match the crisis in such a way that it does not hold them down.  One of such persons that has exhibited determination and resolutness is Marylyn Jacob, a 200 level student at the University of Ibadan.

Marylyn Jacob

Marylyn,21, who is the current Queen of Models of the Island Pageant Nigeria, despite losing some of her siblings to this disorder, has made up her mind to survive. In her words: “No matter what, I must survive and live a fulfilled life.” Marylyn is a survivor.  “My parents gave birth to eight children out of which three have sickle cell disease. I lost one of my junior brothers to the disease while two of us are still coping with the crisis in my family.
“I have many friends living with this disorder, but the most painful thing is that most of them have died and is really painful.” Recalling the death of her younger brother, Marylyn said the incident occurred while he was preparing for his JSS 3 exam.

“My brilliant brother died at the age of 12 when he was reading for his exams. At that moment it became almost too difficult for me to put myself together. I lost concentration because we were attending the same school.

While all this lasted, my determination to survive did not change. I kept telling myself that I must survive.” Marylyn’s determination to survive is not only by word of mouth but backed up with action.  She takes extra care and caution about every thing that could hinder her survival. “I eat a lot of seafood, vegetables and fruits. I drink a lot of water and take multivitamins. I stay away from anything stressful, the only thing I do is to walk around but anything that has to do with jumping or running I avoid.
“As a matter of fact, I have routine drugs I take every day and I don’t feel hungry before i eat because it is not good for my health.” Encouraging those living with SCD, Marylyn charged them not to allow anything to weigh them down. “It’s all about determination. Don’t let anything weigh you down. I have been there before and I am still there and making it. Definitely you also can make it. I have made up my mind to become someone great in life and I hope that someday I will definitely become great and useful for this country.”
Speaking at the 2015 World Sickle Cell Day commemoration, the Chairman, Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria, Professor Olu Akinyanju said that with more funding for research, life can be more interesting for people living with the disorder. “Nigeria needs to invest in research because all the intervention we are seeing today that is making life easier for sickle cell patients was as a result of the affection that America have for research.

Every year they are putting almost about that same amount into it which has being helping in making life easier for sickle cell patient. But here in Nigeria what we allocated to the whole health in budget is not even up to that amount.”