OPELOUSAS, LA (KADN)- The Sickle Cell Association of Southwest Louisiana is making Christmas a little brighter for kids that suffer from the disease right here in Acadiana.
The nonprofit gifted playhouses to two local families in Opelousas. The foundation partnered with Bayou Angel Disaster Relief and Acts Love Church.
Brianna Thibeaux, a mother of two children with sickle cell, said that she is grateful that the nonprofit stepped in to help especially right now during the holiday.
“It helps out a lot because I say I would have never been able to get something like this for her,” Thibeaux said.
Sickle cell is an inherited red blood cell disorder in which there aren’t enough blood cells to carry oxygen throughout one’s body.
“It’s tough I need my mom and dad to help me go to the bathroom. They carry me and if my legs are hurting, I have to crawl to the bathroom,” Alanie Leday, a 10-year-old with sickle cell, said.
It can cost $10,000 to $30,000 a year to help care for someone with sickle cell.
Erin Fulbright, the foundation’s executive director, said that most families with children with sickle cell face many financial hardships, so helping out with Christmas gifts is the least they can do.
“I think it really does help especially for families that are having to spend so much on medical care and going to the doctor every month if the child is going through a pain crisis. It just brings a little bit of joy and one less stress that the parent has to worry about,” Fulbright said.
The Sickle Cell Foundation of Southwest Louisiana also gave playhouses out to families in New Orleans and Lake Charles.
