ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) -A cutting-edge procedure for treating sickle cell disease is changing lives in the St. Louis area, where an estimated 1,200 people have the debilitating blood disorder.
Damon Williams, 48, is the first adult patient in the St. Louis region to receive a new gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease. On Tuesday, he packed up to go home from Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
“But the big picture is so exciting and so promising,” Williams said.
People with sickle cell disease battle episodes of excruciating pain and severe organ complications that can make it hard to keep a steady job and enjoy normal daily activities. Williams has tried to keep life as close to normal as possible, but because of sickle cell disease, he has suffered two strokes, an aneurysm, and occasionally suffers a sickle cell crisis.