Leghend, with a name as unique as he is, just started first grade and told his mom he had a great first day. He also told her to remove some of the games from his phone because he wanted more educational apps for the school year. He’s six years old.

Kieshia Martin describes her son as smart and curious. “He’s at that age where he questions everything,” she said.

Leghend is tech savvy and enjoys things other kids love like basketball, swimming and Boy Scouts. He also deals with something they don’t have to. He has sickle cell disease.

Kieshia learned her son had the genetic blood disorder just a couple of days after he was born when the hospital ran routine blood tests.

“I was devastated. It was like a punch in the gut.”

People with sickle cell disease have red blood cells that are hard, in the shape of a crescent, instead of being soft and round. That makes it hard for blood to carry oxygen throughout the body. They need blood transfusions to manage health complications like anemia, organ damage and terrible pain.

Kieshia says sometimes it’s hard to tell if Leghend is hurting. “He’s a jokester.” She said he does have pain in his stomach and legs and can’t go long periods of time in activities that involve running or jumping.

“He gets winded.”

Last Fourth of July, Leghend ended up in the hospital with an enlarged spleen and got pneumonia while he was there. “It’s hard to see your kid like that.” He needed his first two blood transfusions. “If there wasn’t a donor I don’t know what could have happened.”

Having to rely on the kindness of strangers to save your son can be overwhelming.

Kieshia says donating blood is about “people willing to help someone they don’t know.”

One in 3 African American blood donors will be a match for patients who have sickle cell disease. She would donate her own blood to her son but “I’m not a match,” she said.

The Red Cross is working to increase the number of blood donors who are Black to make sure patients with sickle cell disease get the blood they need to thrive and survive.

On September 14th, a blood drive will be held in Leghend’s honor from 2-7 p.m. at the Ricketts Center at 658 Beech St. in Pottstown. 

Kieshia wants for Leghend what all parents want for their kids. “I never want him to struggle.”

She has dedicated her life to seeking out the best medical care, no matter how far she has to drive to get it. She’s also searching for a “forever blood donor,” someone who is the perfect match for her son and can donate throughout his life.

Kieshia plans to go to nursing school to learn more about how she can help Leghend and communicate more effectively with his many specialists.

For now, she tells him what he needs to know by sharing “little books and pamphlets” about sickle cell disease that a six year old can understand. She never wants him to feel like a victim. “I want him to be as normal as possible,” and she said, “I try to make each moment count.”

September is Sickle Cell Awareness month. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, download our free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS.

- Story and photo by Jenny Farley