CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Cherokee County man living with Sickle Cell Disease is now the first known person with the condition to get a medical pilot’s license.
Channel 2’s Fred Blankenship spoke with 24-year-old Kyle Registre about how a life-changing procedure is allowing his dreams to take flight.
At an airfield, Blankenship met with Registre to learn more about how his dreams are taking off.
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For Registre, every safety check is heaven. Even though as a child, he was told his goal of being a pilot would never happen, due to his disease, a new treatment is putting it in reach.
“I’d have these episodes where I would be crying,” Registre told Channel 2 Action News.
Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood disorder, more common among Black people, that can lead to excruciating pain and hospital stays.
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Blankenship first met Registre at the WSB Care-a-Thon, where he told Blankenship about a gene cell therapy that had changed his life.
“With gene therapy, what you’re doing is taking your own stem cells, sending them to a lab, modifying them and putting them back into your body,” Registre explained.
After going through the Lyfegenia therapy, Registre has his medical license to fly.
“It took about two and a half years,” Registre said. “The FAA reviewed all of my medical history and they really scrutinized it because I was the first.”
Dr. Suhag Parikh at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta told Channel 2 Action News that Registre no long shows signs of the blood disorder.
“Yes, he is pretty much cured in the sense he does not have the symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease anymore,” Parikh said.
Next up for Registre is getting licensed to fly the big jets.
“I’ll be flying the big jets and you my man will be back in that first class, there you go,” Registre said. “That’s right.”
Until now, a bone marrow transplant has been the primary treatment for Sickle Cell Disease. It’s important to note that gene cell therapy is not cheap and requires regular check-ups every year.
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