The American Red Cross has penned a pact with "artivist" Nikkolas Smith to create a searing new work of art aimed at boosting awareness for sickle cell disease (SCD) and encouraging people to donate blood.
Through the new digital art portrait, titled “Transfusion,” Smith sought to show the pain of SCD, an inherited health condition that affects the red blood cells and primarily impacts the Black community.
The disease can develop in early childhood, and, although its effects may not be readily apparent, it can lead to painful episodes known as sickle cell crises. These episodes can be extremely severe and last for days or even weeks. Additionally, the disease increases the risk of serious infections and can result in anemia.
It’s a chronic condition that requires lifelong treatment, with many patients having to have regular blood transfusions, sometimes numbering in the hundreds. The only cure for SCD is a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, but they're not done very often because of the risks involved.
Experimental treatments using CRISPR technology are in the early stages of development, but transfusions remain the main form of treatment for severe cases.
“Transfusion” is a call to raise broader awareness about SCD and the important role donors who are Black play in providing a compatible blood match, as 1 in 3 African Americans are a match for people with SCD.
Smith’s portrait came after he sat down with four sickle cell “warriors,” as the American Red Cross calls them, of various ages: Tiereny Bell, Dr. Rubin Beaufort, Dreylan Holmes and Erica Hunter.
Bell's severe pain forced her to limit her work as an epidemiologist, and 12-year-old Holmes' experience was misunderstood at school, "leaving him isolated from friends," according to a press release.
“What stood out to me the most when speaking with these incredibly brave sickle cell warriors is how much constant pain they endure due to the malfunctioning cells in their body, but also the level of determination they have to maintain in order to push through until their next blood transfusion,” said Smith in the release.
“Sickle cell disease can be inherited by anyone of any race and ethnicity, but in the U.S., the great majority of individuals who have the disease are of African descent,” added Yvette Miller, M.D., executive medical director of the Red Cross.
“Nikkolas' art reinforces that donating blood helps sickle cell warriors stay in the fight, while inspiring each of us to roll up a sleeve so they don't have to fight alone.”