Neil Webb
THE bouts of terrible pain began further back than Victoria Gray can remember. Her grandmother would try to ease the discomfort with hot towels and medication, but it was fruitless. “I was born having to endure pain,” she says. “It was a life that I felt wasn’t worth living.”
Gray has an inherited condition known as sickle cell disease, which causes red blood cells to form an abnormal “sickle” shape that can block capillaries, causing pain and sometimes organ damage. As Gray aged, her pain got worse. On one occasion, she temporarily lost the use of her arms and legs.…
