Adekunle Gold Recalls Sickle Cell Crisis: ‘They Had to Put Me in a Wheelchair’

Afrobeats singer Adekunle Kosoko, popularly known as Adekunle Gold, has opened up on a severe sickle cell crisis he experienced while travelling to Tanzania.
It was reported that the singer, who has publicly spoken about living with sickle cell disease, said the health crisis began during a flight with a stopover in Ethiopia. News

Adekunle Gold in an interview on Afropolitan Podcast explained that he initially experienced severe stomach pain and cramps while on the plane.

At first, he believed the discomfort could have been caused by food he had eaten at the airport before boarding the flight.

However, the pain continued to worsen despite his initial assumption that it was related to something he had eaten.

The singer said his condition became so serious that the situation on the flight became worrying as the aircraft approached Ethiopia.

He eventually needed medical attention immediately after landing.

He said: “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.

“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.’

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“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.

“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.

“The only crisis I have known in my life is in my stomach. That was the first time I ever heard about that.

“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.

“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.”