Musa's story

Aberdeen doctor Musa needs blood transfusions every six to eight weeks to treat his sickle cell disorder.

A specialty doctor in Neurology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Dr Musa Watila lives in the city with his wife and two children. He was less than a year old when his parents discovered he had sickle cell disorder.

Sickle cell disorder is an inherited blood disorder that effects the red blood cells in the body. Instead of being a round, doughnut shape, the red blood cells are in the shape of a sickle. These cells clump together and cause inflammation and swelling in the body which can lead to a sickle cell disorder sufferer having a severe and painful 'crises'.

Dr Watila says, 'Before starting regular red cell transfusions I would suffer from sickle cell crises at least once a month and these could lead to hospital admissions. In my final year of medical school, I had a severe crisis that caused damage to my hip joints which resulted in undergoing a hip replacement.'

However, since receiving regular blood transfusions, Dr Watila hasn’t suffered any sickle cell crises and his quality of life has improved dramatically.

He wants to thank blood donors as he says, 'Your blood donations keep me pain free, stronger and more efficient as a doctor.' Dr Watila loves his job and helping those in need, because as he says, 'I understand very well what it means to be on the other side of the table as a patient.'

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