In today’s episode of This Hits Different, Shelby Cassesse tells the story of Burrell senior Nijere Floyd, who is using his Sickle Cell diagnosis to help local doctors and fundraise.
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Local teen using Sickle Cell Disease to help doctors, raise money
Burrell senior Nijere Floyd has been fighting from the start.
“That’s just how it is. That’s just life,” Floyd says. “I’m blessed to be where I’m at today.”
Born with Sickle Cell Disease — a genetic blood disorder — his early childhood was filled with hospital stays, procedures and constant blood work. He may not remember much of it, but his mother Twaina Williams absolutely does.
“He went through crisis,” she says. “To be honest, it was like clockwork. It was like, holidays are coming? Ok, let’s pack your bag. Your birthday is coming up? Ok, let’s pack your bag.”
But new medications that hit the market about ten years ago changed his life, making room for a more normal childhood, including sports, something some with Sickle Cell can't do.
“I wanted him to have some type of quality life,” Williams says. “One thing I always say to our family is that you make the disease, you don’t let it make you.”
That doesn't mean life was without road blocks. He started having flare ups more frequently again as a pre-teen. Floyd had to form a new game plan, which meant taking some time away from football.
“Not being at school and being on so much medication and in the hospital was crazy,” he says. “That’s when I started (thinking) like, ‘alright, this is really serious.’”
He started to have a new appreciation for communicating with his mom and his doctors, and advocating for his own needs. His condition improved again, and he was able to return to football as a freshman at Burrell.
Never hesitant to talk about his condition, Floyd found a way it could help others. He's a recurring speaker at Pitt's Med School, talking to doctors and doctors in training about Sickle Cell, and the impact of knowing their patient as a person, not just their condition.
“My doctors were the best doctors out there,” he says. “I wouldn’t even call them my doctors. They’re more like family to me.
“Nobody likes medicine, nobody likes going the hospital. But if you feel comfortable with the people you’re going to go see, you’re going to want to go. That’s what I try to get the doctors to know and to feel. I feel like’s real helpful for them and me.”
You'd never know all this about Floyd, now a senior captain, watching him play football.
“I play to the game, I like to hit, all that,” he says. “I don’t do anything different than anyone else.”
But you will this month, only because of his community. It's Sickle Cell Awareness month. Williams thought of doing something small, like getting the team red socks to show their support. Now, it's a massive fundraiser.
“A community/outside of the community event of people just coming together and embracing that,” she says.
“The community… they made sure it’s known to me and my family that ‘we’re in it with Nijere. If he’s doing it, we’re dong it with him,’” Floyd says. “That really motivates me, makes me feel comfortable and happy.”
Floyd has spent his first 18 years with a lot more on his plate than most his age, but he's only counting his blessings and embracing those challenges.
“It’s been tough for me, but I’m kind of blessed because I get to play football, I’m a captain, I get to go to school,” he says.
“I’m not in pain as much. I got thorough pain here and there, but I could have it a lot worse. To be a role model for people — not just for Sickle Cell — but just in general, like, yeah, you have a disease, but you can do whatever you want.”