"Between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m., while most people were sleeping, I was driving around town, looking for medical care for my daughter who was in the middle of a painful crisis. I’m used to this. I’ve done it for years and it has become reflex. I don’t think twice about rushing out in the middle of night. For some reason, that’s when her crises usually begins or escalates beyond what I can handle.”

Nneoma is the mother of two beautiful girls, and works as a legal officer in Enugu. Her younger daughter has sickle cell anaemia, and over the years, Nneoma has learnt to manage this health challenge and put in place checks that will facilitate access to care for her daughter whenever a crisis arises. This time around, she thought her checks were in place as usual and so when her daughter started experiencing a crisis in the middle of the night, she sprang into action. But this time around events turned out differently.

"We use a hospital owned by a family friend. The staff have instructions to let us in and administer treatment no matter the time, but they recently changed staff. So this time, no one would open the door. I had her hematologist on the phone. He isn’t a staff of that hospital. However, I couldn’t reach the M.D. of the hospital to ask them to let us in. There I was, standing at the entrance at 1 a.m., alternately honking my horn and banging on the door with my daughter screaming in pain."

Click on link below to read full story
http://nigeriahealthwatch.com/i-banged-on-the-hospital-door-at-1-a-m-with-my-daughter-screaming-in-pain-the-difficulty-of-healthcare-access-in-nigeria/

When you have been warned about AA AS SS genotype and their compatibilities

Poor child..