Mile 10

Daniel Cressy has suffered with Sickle Cell Disease since he was born, suffering regular pain crises and complications throughout much of his childhood, including frequent hospitalization. He experienced fewer problems from 2018-22, but complications and hospitalizations picked up again over the last few years. The now 22-year old has experienced increasing pain, impacting his quality of life, and his dream of becoming a pilot.

Since he was 19, Daniel has been working toward his dream of becoming a commercial pilot. Unfortunately, due to his Sickle Cell Disease, the FAA has told Daniel that he will not qualify. Through numerous appeals, the FAA finally told Daniel that they could reconsider his application should he receive gene therapy, approved by the FDA just last year with only a few hundred receiving this innovative, curative therapy for Sickle Cell Disease worldwide.

Fortunately, Manning Family Children’s is one of a select few hospitals nationally to offer both curative gene therapy drugs, as an authorized treatment center. Daniel meets the criteria and has made it through the verification process, and will be the hospital’s first gene therapy patient, beginning the several month process to transplant this summer.

For Daniel, this not only offers the chance of a cure for a lifelong debilitating condition like Sickle Cell Disease, it is also the opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot – giving him his dream and his future back.