Google
Trusted Resources: Community Center
Online groups, photo galleries and blogs
Today’s Faces of Sickle Cell Disease: Mercy Mendoza
Mercy Mendoza was born in Honduras, and for the first three years of her life, she suffered from a condition that caused swelling, pain, and immobility and nearly destroyed her health. Multiple doctors tried to help but failed, and fearing the worse, Mercy’s grandmother went and bought a burial plot. Finally, a doctor who had been trained in the United States recognized Mercy’s condition: It was sickle cell disease. Knowing that their daughter would need special care, Mercy’s parents brought her to the United States and they found Mercy the pediatric care she needed to treat her disease. Years later as a teenager, Mercy became a counselor at a camp for kids with sickle cell disease. There she taught others to manage the condition that nearly claimed her life.
Today Mercy lives in Houston with her parents, brother, and two sisters. She is the only one in her family who has the disease. Her brother and one of her two sisters have the trait. She currently volunteers for the Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation, where she also conducts specialized outreach to the Hispanic community in Texas to raise awareness about the disease.
+myBinderRelated Content
-
Nirvana InitiativeNirvana Initiative is an organization se...
-
Tackle Sickle Cell“Tackle Sickle Cell” is a campaign t...
-
RARE Drug Development SymposiumThe RARE Drug Development Symposium is a...
-
Today’s Faces of Sickle Cell Disease: Marjorie DeJoie-Brewer, MDIt wasn’t until her second year in med...
-
Karen Proudford, PhDDr. Karen Proudford is President of the ...
-
Representative Johnson Files Four Sickle Cell Disease Related BillsState Representative Jarvis Johnson (HD ...
-
Today’s Faces of Sickle Cell Disease: Wanda Whitten-Shurney, MDWanda Whitten-Shurney is a pediatrician,...
To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
