By Adegboyega Adeleye
Afrobeats singer, Adekunle Kosoko, popularly known as Adekunle Gold, has revealed how a severe sickle cell crisis struck him during a flight to Tanzania, leaving him unable to walk and forcing him into a wheelchair after the plane landed in Ethiopia.
Adekunle Gold, who has openly spoken about living with the genetic blood disorder, recounted the frightening experience in an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra.
“The last major crisis that I had. This is not the one I talked about when I was 20. The last major crisis I had happened on a plane,” he said.
According to the singer, he initially thought the stomach pain he experienced during the flight was caused by something he had eaten at the airport.
“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. I was like, ‘I shouldn’t have eaten that,’” he said.
“I was beating myself up about that, but it kept going. I went to the toilet nothing came out. They almost landed the plane because of me, because it was really bad.”
Adekunle Gold said the crisis became so severe that he could barely move when the flight reached Ethiopia.
“Thankfully, we were closer to landing in Ethiopia. I could not even walk. 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.
The singer said the experience also introduced him to a different manifestation of his condition.
“The only crisis I have known in my life is in my stomach. That was the first time I ever heard about that,” he said.
Adekunle Gold said the doctor subsequently advised him to drink more water while travelling by air, after his oxygen level was found to be low.
“The doctor now told me that when I am on the plane, I should make sure I drink a lot of water. And that my oxygen level was low because I did not drink a lot of water that day.
“I said, ‘Wow!’ They almost landed the plane because of me because it was really bad.”
Describing the challenge of managing sickle cell while frequently travelling, he added: “I feel like I live on the plane, I’m on the plane 24/7 and if you know anyone living with sickle cell, you will know it is about oxygen, oxygen level and when you are up there, it is crazy.”
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