JCSU Student Dedicates Summer To “Be The Match”
Bre’Asia Demery ’24, a Psychology major at Johnson C. Smith University, was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was just four years old.
Now a rising senior, Demery has decided to dedicate her summer to Be the Match, a stem cell and bone marrow donor registry, to help those who, like her, are impacted with blood-related sicknesses and other diseases.
“Living with sickle cell you never know when you’ll get sick,” said Demery. “Many of my friends have had a stem cell transplant through this foundation and it gave them amazing results. I chose to intern with Be the Match because I know what it feels like to have no voice. If I can be the voice of these patients who need it, I’ll be satisfied in life.”
Demery found her voice in Dr. Paulette Bryant, one of her doctors who helped her cope physically and emotionally with the chronic disease. Sickle cell can cause infections, chronic pain and fatigue and disproportionately impacts the Black community, with one in 13 Black or African-American babies born with sickle cell trait and one in 365 born with the disease.