When Gabrielle Carter was two-and-a-half months old, her mother Debbie got terrible news. Gabrielle had sickle cell.
That began a seven-year relationship with the American Red Cross that Debbie says saved her little girl’s life. The effort to keep Gabrielle alive started when she was a week old. Both of Gabrielle’s parents had the sickle cell trait, but not the disease.
Gabrielle was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 2006. “When she was born, I knew there was a possibility she would have it, so I went to a geneticist,” Debbie recalled. “My pediatrician used the new-born screening, so when she was a week old it indicated she had either the trait, or the disease.” 10 weeks later, the devastating result came back. Gabrielle had Hemoglobin SS sickle cell, the most severe form.
“I had to take her to Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. I was there three or four hours with them explaining what the disease was, life expectancy, what her life was going to be like.”