Chicagoan with sickle cell disease may no longer need blood transfusions thanks to clinical trial

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Sickle cell is a tough disease to live with, but thousands of people do it every day.

"For as long as I can remember, I've always had to adjust my life around having sickle cell disease," blood donation recipient Lyric Porter said.

We introduced you to Lyric Porter last year, prior to the 2022 Great Chicago Blood Drive. But, since then... some things have changed.

"So recently I got a gene therapy stem transplant," Porter said.

The clinical trial essentially replaced the gene that created sickled blood cells in her body with a modified gene that would not.

According to the CDC, one out of every 500 Black Americans is affected by sickle cell anemia. The disease can be crippling, with sickled hemoglobin cells causing severe pain, potential organ damage and in some cases, death.

But Porter is now hoping the new clinical gene therapy treatment trial will alleviate her sickle cell symptoms and allow her to live a life with less pain.

"Ideally, no, I would not have to have any more blood transfusions," Porter said.

To receive the treatment, Porter had to have multiple blood transfusions, exchanges, and chemo. She experienced side effects like losing her hair and her body changed, but her life could be very different after the healing process.

"It's actually pretty scary to think about, so a lot of times when I am thinking about that and about how my life can be different, you know, for the better of course, I still get pretty emotional obviously because it's like a traumatic portion of my life," she said. "And I'm just hoping that I can fulfill all of the things that I wanna do and I say that I could do if sickle cell wasn't holding me back."

As she waits for results, Porter is reminding people that blood donations got her to this point.

"Blood donations were important to me because I've gotten probably like thousands and thousands units of blood," she said.

The two-day Great Chicago Blood Drive event is scheduled for January 11th and 12th at seven Chicago area locations. You can sign up for an appointment here.