Sickle cell patients have begun receiving the first new treatment for the blood disorder in over 20 years.
The inherited condition can cause severe pain and organ failure, often requiring hospital admissions.
Crizanlizumab is given as a monthly infusion and is thought to cut visits to A&E by 40%.
Loury Mooruth, 62, received the treatment at Birmingham City Hospital, having suffered repeated periods of intense pain for decades.
These are called sickle cell crises and are common in people with the condition.
“To have a crisis is pain beyond what you could ever experience,” Loury says.
“They give you a scale of one to 10 – but it is way beyond that.”
Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells to distort and become sticky, blocking vessels and restricting oxygen supply, which triggers excruciating pain.
Crizanlizumab, a monoclonal antibody, binds to a protein on blood cells, preventing them from clumping.
Sickle cell mostly affects black people. -BBC
