For 11-year-old Britain (BJ), basketball has always been more than a game. At just three years old, BJ fell in love with sports. But growing up with sickle cell disease (SCD), BJ is used to navigating a reality that can make participating in the things he loves more difficult.
At two days old, BJ underwent multiple blood tests that resulted in a diagnosis of sickle cell disease. “At this time,” his mom, Kelly, recalled, “I was sent home with my new baby boy, unsure of what the next steps would look like.”
Kelly remembers the emotions she was feeling when BJ’s pediatrician called her to deliver the news that BJ has a condition that “will likely affect him for the rest of his life.” At the time, Kelly had no idea what this meant for her family, but she found many answers after “what felt like millions of appointments” to get BJ set up with the best possible sickle cell team to help manage his condition.
“Sickle cell disease can impact nearly every layer of life for children and their families, psychosocially, academically, workwise for parents, and financially,” said Lynn LaRocca, Senior Case Manager at Team IMPACT. “Kids with SCD routinely miss school due to pain crises, not just missing educational instruction but social interactions, friendships, sports, and other activities.”
For BJ, this meant missing basketball. Kelly was told it was unlikely her son would be able to play the sport he loves. But as BJ grew, so did his love of the game. “It’s like when they said that, his passion grew every year by tenfold,” Kelly said. But loving a sport and being able to participate in it are not always the same thing for many children living with SCD. When BJ expressed that he wanted to quit school in fifth grade because “what’s the point, I can’t play basketball,” his mom, Kelly, knew something needed to change.
Then came Marquette basketball.
From there, BJ’s reality shifted from “What’s the point?” to “having hope, actual dreams and aspirations,” Kelly said. Together, BJ and his mom were welcomed with open arms into a new community, by not only the team itself but by players’ parents, graduated athletes, and the entire Marquette basketball family. “The team treats BJ like he is truly one of the guys,” Kelly said, “from the head coach all the way through the support staff. BJ now not only wants to graduate high school, he wants to go to college” with dreams of one day playing for Marquette.
With her son a part of the Marquette basketball team, Kelly watched him transform. Not only did his confidence grow as a basketball player but also as a child living with sickle cell disease. She watched BJ find new motivation through his teammates—motivation that made living with SCD a little easier. “Each year, his sickle cell team and I stress the importance of owning his health condition and taking care of his body,” Kelly said, “listening to it and understanding when and why he needs to rest or take breaks.”
For BJ, that has not always been easy. “It was an uphill battle,” Kelly recalled, “but this year, he has stepped up, and I think that is part age and part Marquette. I can tell him 20 times to make sure he drinks water and takes his meds. I may hit two days a week where he’s listening. But when Ian [Miletic] or Nigel [James] tells his, it’s ‘Mom, don’t forget to put my water in my bag! I took my meds already!’” For Kelly, she says she’ll take these wins where she can get them, “and I won’t take it personally!”
When BJ signed with Marquette, he gained something that went far beyond a jersey. He gained teammates. He gained family. He gained a place where he belongs.
From the moment he walks into the building, BJ is welcomed “as if he naturally belongs there,” Kelly said. “When BJ texts or calls to just check in or congratulate one of the guys on something he saw, they take time to talk to him about the experience so he can relate. I think this has encouraged him to also think about his future.” When BJ is not felling well, the team checks on him and encourages him to do the things he needs to feel better. Kelly has noticed that since meeting the team, BJ pushes himself past the pain a little harder. BJ has not been hospitalized since signing with Marquette nearly a year ago—which Kelly says is a first in his life.
For Lynn, one of the most powerful parts of BJ’s Team IMPACT experience has been watching his confidence grow. “BJ loves basketball, but with his illness, he isn’t always able to attend practices, games, or tournaments, maybe isn’t always the strongest or fastest, and can feel left out of the team dynamic,” Lynn says. “With Marquette men’s basketball, he’s one of them.”
He has a NIL store like the Marquette players. He has custom shoes that he can grow into from Coach Shaka. He and Kelly attended the team’s end-of-year banquet. Marquette players have shown up for BJ at his AAU basketball tournament and at a Children’s Wisconsin event. And they show up in the moments in between, too.
Until this year, BJ had only celebrated two birthdays outside the hospital walls. Year 11 was different. This birthday, BJ celebrated at home, at school, with cupcakes and balloons, and with a surprise visit from his teammates. “The joy, inclusion, and fire this experience has brought to BJ—and Kelly’s—life is palpable,” Lynn said.
That sense of belonging has spilled over into every part of BJ’s life. His confidence has exploded, not only on the basketball court, but with his peers, around the Marquette players, and with his care team.
Last year, BJ was at a sickle cell appointment when he was asked who he thought was Marquette’s most up-and-coming player. Immediately, BJ had his answer: “Nigel James is on fire and, like, my best friend.”
For BJ, his blood condition used to—and sometimes still does—make life complicated. But now, it’s also what has shifted his perspective to become a driving force in everything he does. “I don’t know if it’s the Marquette blood running through him now, but it’s giving him this superpower,” Kelly said.
BJ sees his time with the team a little more simply. “This is the best experience I’ve EVER had,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to be friends with everyone, everyone is really nice.”
His advice to other kids living with SCD? “Never think that you can’t do something because you’ve got something bringing you down,” he said. “If you try hard enough, you can bring yourself back up.”
“Living with sickle cell disease is hard. Some days are really painful and hard,” BJ said, “but I keep going harder.”
During Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and always, we celebrate matches like BJ and Marquette basketball and are proud to recognize Vertex Pharmaceuticals for supporting efforts that help children and families affected by sickle cell disease feel seen, supported, and connected.
