my oldest sister magdalein succumbed to sickle cell. the sister who i lost, i never met her.eath's on the way — sickle cell and just the way we live in our house, how it affected my parents, my sisters. i could say that that created, like, a kind of environment. sickle cell has made me and my family stronger. but as i prepare for the marathon, the warnings from my doctor keep playing on my mind. the doctors disagree with me about my doing the marathon. essentially, i will be reducing the oxygen circulating to my body, the functionality of my organs and risking things like strokes or neuroretinopathy or, like, something just obstructs somewhere and it'lljust collapse, and, yeah... as the day approaches, i'm excited and determined. emcee: ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to welcome you to the 2018 nairobi standard chartered international marathon! i'm feeling good at the starting line. the adrenaline kicks in and i'm all set. cheering and applause starter's gun fires cheering and applause continues after 2km, my body starts to give out. the sun is so hot, my breathing becomes la