Daniel Cressy, 23, center, celebrates the end of his Sickle Cell Disease treatment with Lucio Fragoso, CEO of Manning Family Children’s Hospital, left, during a ceremony in Cressy’s honor on June 22, 2026. Cressy is the first person in Louisiana to be cured of Sickle Cell Disease through gene therapy, and his ceremony was attended by Gov. Jeff Landry, Congressman Troy Carter, Mayor Helena Moreno, Cooper Manning and others. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America
Tears glazed Daniel Cressy’s face as he became the first patient in the Gulf South to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease through gene editing on Monday. He said it felt like being reborn.
“ God has given me another life, a new chapter. I was able to experience a second birthday, something that most people will never experience,” he said during a celebration at Manning Family Children’s, surrounded by his care team and top public officials including Gov. Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno.