SICKLE CELL SURVIVOR BECOMES MEDICAL DOCTOR

“I HAVE always wished to be medical doctor even after I was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia when I was nine months old.”

Studying medicine and going on to be a medical doctor has been Musonda Mwilwa’s burning passion even though she is a sickle cell anaemia survivor.
Sickle cell anaemia is a condition affecting the red blood cells and various organs in the human body due to a lack of haemoglobin in the blood.

The 28 year-old Mwilwa recently attained her childhood dream of becoming a medical doctor.

In the midst of myths suggesting that people with sickle cell do not fully grow up, and that they die early, Mwilwa was devastated by what
she heard as she grew up.

She narrated that negative sentiment concerning her condition was all she could hear from people.

Mwilwa said studying medicine was not an easy undertaking because she thought she would not make due to her condition.

However, January 30 this year was the greatest day of her life as she was among the 31 doctors who were inducted by Zambia Medical Association at Lusaka Apex Medical University (LAMU).

Induction is a ceremony of welcoming newly qualified medical doctors who declare their commitment to assume the responsibilities and obligations of the medical profession.

“Despite people displaying their negative attitude, I never allowed this negative mindset to stop my ambition of becoming a doctor one day,” Dr Mwilwa said.

Born in 1991 from Joyce Musonda and Kangwa Mwilwa, Dr Mwilwa recalled
how she was inspired to be a doctor after being found with sickle cell
and going through so much pain.

She said every time she was going through pain, her mother, Joyce, was her source of comfort who assured her that her future was bright and extraordinary.