‘At the age of 7, I was diagnosed with sickle cell, passed down from my mother who had it’s traits. This meant that there was a problem with my haemoglobin – the substance in the red blood cells that is supposed to carry oxygen around my body. This caused me constant pain,

restricted me from taking part in physical activities and to make matters worse I was told I wouldn’t live beyond the age of 21. The first time I heard this I felt like there was no point in living; at the same time it frightened me to know that I had a death sentence constantly hanging over my head. With time, however, I learned

to live with it because I felt there was nothing I could do about it. When I found out that my older brother had also died from sickle cell, I lost the will to live. I was assured that I wouldn’t live beyond 21, so what was the point in trying?

That was when one of my friends invited me to the Universal Church. There I heard real life stories of people who, through faith, were able to overcome serious problems in their lives and that brought me hope. I then learnt the concept of the ‘Challenge of Faith’ and I put all my strength into it because I wanted to see the same change those people had seen.

Taking part in the Challenge of Faith wasn’t easy as I was still in and out of hospital, but I did my best. I didn’t give up. My faith was awakened through this challenge.

I continued following the medical advice as usual but I chose to believe that I could get better. I became more positive, holding on to the vision of myself overcoming this difficulty.

Normally whenever I would go for a check-up the haemoglobin in my blood would be 50% – the highest it would ever get was 70% – which meant I wasn’t receiving sufficient oxygen. I began to notice a big difference, however. My haemoglobin was hitting 90%! The nurse was astonished because this had never happened before. I was so happy and for a year now I haven’t felt so good. I can do everything and anything I put my mind to. Today I am 26 years old and truly happy as I don’t have to live in fear of dying.’

Ronke Dosumu