In 2018, during one of the most severe sickle cell crises of my life, I found myself in a hospital bed feeling defeated. As I struggled to receive the care I needed, I turned to my friend Kevin and said, “They can't keep getting away with this. We have to show people what they're doing to us.”
That was the moment this film was born.
Shortly afterward, I was offered the opportunity to undergo a groundbreaking stem cell transplant that could cure my sickle cell disease. I realized that if I was fortunate enough to receive an opportunity that so many people around the world could not access, then I had a responsibility to use it to shine a light on the realities of living with sickle cell disease, from healthcare inequities and stigma to the extraordinary resilience of patients, families, and communities.
My mentor, the late Charles Officer, often told me to “write what you know.” For years, I searched for stories to tell, not realizing the story I was meant to tell was the one I had been living all along.
Looking back, I realize that every experience I had navigating life with sickle cell disease, combined with everything I had learned as a filmmaker, prepared me for this moment. Making this film felt less like choosing a subject and more like answering a calling.
This is more than a film about a medical treatment. It is a story about family, faith, community, and hope. It is about what happens when people refuse to give up on one another, and about the power of storytelling to transform pain into understanding, awareness, and change.
Director · Producer
Gabriel Badejo
Gabriel Badejo is a Nigerian-Canadian Producer and Director based in Toronto whose work spans commercials, music videos, and documentary storytelling. Over the past decade, he has built a career producing visually driven content for artists, brands, and cultural projects, developing a style rooted in cinematic imagery and emotionally grounded storytelling. In recent years, his focus has expanded into documentary filmmaking, creating work that explores identity, health, and personal resilience through an intimate and human lens. The Sickling is his debut documentary exploring his lived experience with sickle cell disease and the broader realities surrounding the condition.
