“I feel like a whole new person when I get blood.” Keyera Jennings was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the age of 5. This genetic blood disorder distorts red blood cells and prevents them from flowing smoothly and carrying oxygen to the rest of the body. When these red blood cells get stuck in the blood vessels and block blood flow, the result is a pain crisis. She was also diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN) just five years later, a serious complication of sickle cell disease that causes the deterioration of bones due to lack of blood supply. Doctors told her she would need both hips replaced, which meant learning how to walk all over again at 10 years old. Those years were challenging — nothing could have prepared her for the excruciating pain she felt as child and into adulthood — but her parents have been by her side every step of her journey. “My parents have gotten me through so many things even when the doctors told them I was faking and ‘nothing was wrong with me,’...