Adekunle Gold Recounts Sickle Cell Crisis That Left Him in Wheelchair Mid-Flight
Afrobeats singer Adekunle Gold has opened up about a severe sickle cell crisis that struck during a flight to Tanzania, leaving him unable to walk and prompting cabin crew to consider an emergency landing.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, the singer, who lives with sickle cell disease, said the episode occurred on a journey that included a stopover in Ethiopia.
He described how the crisis began with sharp stomach pain that he first attributed to food poisoning from a meal he had eaten at the airport.
"The last major crisis that I had… happened on a plane," Adekunle Gold said. "I was going to Tanzania, and I was supposed to lay over in Ethiopia. I just noticed that I started feeling pain in my stomach. I was cramping. I thought it was maybe some meal that I had at the airport."
As the pain intensified, flight attendants became worried and weighed diverting the aircraft.
"They almost landed the plane because of me, because it was really bad," he recalled.
After the plane touched down in Ethiopia, the singer could not walk and was transported to a hospital in a wheelchair. Medical staff there confirmed that he had experienced a sickle cell crisis, which they attributed to low oxygen levels and dehydration.
"For the first time in my life, they had to put me in a wheelchair, and they took me to the hospital. And the doctor told me that I had a crisis," he added.
In the wake of the incident, doctors advised him to remain consistently hydrated during flights to help keep his oxygen levels stable.
"I feel like I live on the plane… and if you know anyone living with sickle cell, you will know it is about oxygen levels, and when you are up there, it is crazy," the singer stated.
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