On May 31, 2006, Carmani Boozer, the eldest son of Carlos Boozer, was born with sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder that the Centers for Disease Control says more than 70,000 people in the United States have. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital also says about 1 in every 500 African-Americans are born with the disease.
Boozer
When Boozer's ex-wife, CeCe, knew there was no cure for sickle cell anemia, her heart was like a knife. Kamani's cruel illness came from her and Boozer, and at two months of age, signs began to appear: heme was too low, and his limbs were swollen.
The doctor gave him antibiotics and told Sissi that the same thing would happen again the following year. The doctors said all she could do was comfort him more to alleviate his suffering, the best way to give him a "more normal" life.
On the way to accompany their son to cure his illness, the Boozers heard some new news, and she learned that the umbilical cord blood of siblings or brothers is rich in stem cells that can be used for donation and transplantation. A successful cord blood transplant will have a good chance of curing Kamani's disease.
However, if Sissi wants to get pregnant again, she and Boozer may be at risk of developing sickle cell anemia in their second child. No one can guarantee that a second child, or a third or even a fourth child, will be born healthy and help Camani overcome the disease. But there is a way in which they can consider in vitro fertilization and genetic screening.
Sissi assembled a team of medical scientists and cultivated 26 fertilized eggs, 10 of which were genetically matched with Kamani. Of the 10 matching fertilized eggs, only two were disease-free, and the doctor transplanted two suitable fertilized eggs into Sissi's womb just in case one of them didn't develop properly.
Sissi's guilt ensued, and she was so desperate to find a way to save Kamani that she didn't stop to seriously consider the child in her womb. She brought them into the world not out of love for them, nor did she consider who they were and what kind of people they would become. She brought them into the world only out of love for her sick son. She looked at her increasingly bulging abdomen and tried to feel them.
However, the treatment of Kamani was a top priority, and on July 18, 2007, Sissi gave birth to twin sons Cameron and Carden, in which Cameron's umbilical cord was frozen for bone marrow transplantation to treat her brother.
By transplanting his brother's stem cells, Kamani's number of white blood cells grew steadily, and on October 7, 2007, 40 days after Kamani entered the glass house at Miami Children's Hospital, he was able to go home.
In 2014, after spending nearly $2 million on treatment for 8 years, Boozer's son Kamani was finally in full health. Although divorced from his wife, Sissi, Boozer praised her as a warrior who cared for his children in Miami and ran his foundation, funding a family's treatment each year and providing grants for nonprofit sickle cell research.
Today, Boozer's twin sons: Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, No. 12, are in the Class of 2025, will be in high school this fall, and are currently playing in Florida.
Taller is Cameron, whose name comes from the Cameron Arena of Duke University, Boozell's alma mater.