Singer Adekunle Kosoko, better known by his stage name as Adekunle Gold, has shared his battle with sickle cell anaemia.
The ‘Okay’ hitmaker described in detail how the illness, combined with his parents’ precarious financial situation, had a devastating impact on his youth in a shocking newsletter he sent to fans on Friday.
Adekunle also related a horrible dilemma he once went through that led him to beg God to take his life.
The newsletter was fully read, “It feels liberating to finally be able to share this part of my life with you, to be able to speak my truth finally. When I talk about how I struggled to get to where I am today, I need you to know that my struggle was real.
“I was born with sickle cell disease. It was life and death, it was physical, mental, financial, you name it and I went through it all. It was tough, painful and frustrating. I lived with a sickness no one around me understood, I lived with restrictions all my childhood,” Adekunle said.
“I couldn’t join some of the minor child play and liberating activities like going out in the rain. The times when I insisted and rebelled against my parents’ orders and went out in the rain, I would end up having a crisis.”
Despite the fact that his parents were unable to pay his ongoing bills, he was grateful to his mother for regularly taking him to church.
Additionally, the musician described one of his “most intense crises” when he was 20 years old, which led to him appealing to God for death and ultimately marked a turning point in his life.
“I begged God to take my life because I couldn’t understand what I did to deserve the pain my body and mind were under,” he said. “As usual, with sickle crisis after some days, the pain subsided and God asked me; ‘That end you begged me for, do you still want it?’ Of course, I said no, and that was when everything changed for me.
“That was when I realised that I had been given another opportunity to live my dreams and to show those that mocked me that sickle cell anaemia was never going to end me, that it was never going to hold me back from my dreams and aspirations.”
Adekunle disclosed that, despite the fact that he occasionally still experienced symptoms, the illness had helped him develop his whole character by teaching him to be resilient and disciplined.
The musician urged folks with sickle cell illness to make sure it did not define them as he inspired audiences with his testimony.
“Don’t allow it to limit your dreams or cap your potential. Spread your wings and dream big! Hope to see you soaring the big skies,” he concluded.
