On Monday morning in New Orleans, 23-year-old Daniel Cressy rang a bell inside Manning Family Children’s hospital and stepped into what he calls “Life 2” — a life, for the first time, free of sickle cell disease. 

His treatment using Casgevy’s CRISPR/Cas9, a gene-editing technology, makes him the first patient in Louisiana and the Gulf South to receive the therapy. It is a milestone that doctors say signals a turning point for a disease that has long devastated Black communities with too few answers and even fewer options.

“While many spend their lives searching for purpose, mine found me,” Cressy said after being found sickle cell free. “Now, instead of looking for meaning, I can spend my life fulfilling it.”

Cressy’s bell-ringing is the latest in a string of firsts reshaping the country’s approach to sickle cell. In 2024, 21-year-old Sebastien Beauzile became the first in New York to be treated. Declaring afterward, “I feel unstoppable.” 

Earlier this year, 24-year-old Chantez Sanford Jr. became the first person in Michigan to receive Lyfgenia — the second FDA-approved gene therapy — at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, reporting more energy and fewer pain episodes just months later. 

Both treatments were approved by the FDA in December 2023, and are now itching toward being used more widely.

The stakes are high. Sickle cell disease affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States, with more than 90% being Black. Louisiana, the second-Blackest state in the U.S., carries one of the highest per-capita burdens of any state in the country.

The hospital’s chief executive officer, Lucio Fragoso, said Cressy’s cure provided a substantial reason to “hope” for the South.

“Curative gene therapy is restoring futures, and Daniel has paved the way for what is possible together with his care team,” Fragoso said. “This is a proud and transformational moment for all of us.”

Diagnosed as an infant, Cressy had long harbored a dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot — until the federal government told him his sickle cell diagnosis was disqualifying. He appealed, but the answer didn’t budge. A cure was his only option. 

When Manning Family Children’s hospital received approval to offer the gene-editing treatment, Cressy began working with his doctors. In late 2025, his cells were sent to Scotland for genetic modification, returned to New Orleans this March, and infused back into his body on March 18. 

Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells — normally round and flexible — to harden into a rigid, crescent shape that can’t move easily through blood vessels. Those misshapen cells block blood flow and oxygen delivery to organs and tissue, triggering episodes of excruciating pain, strokes, and over time, irreversible organ damage. The disease is most prevalent among people whose ancestors come from regions where malaria was historically endemic, namely sub-Saharan Africa. In the U.S., it was passed down at higher rates through generations of descendants of enslaved Africans.

But even as the science advances, access remains an open and urgent question. Cressy’s treatment carries a list price of $2.2 million; Lyfgenia, runs $3.1 million. The very communities most burdened by sickle cell disease are also, structurally, the least positioned to navigate a $3 million treatment pathway.

Studies show that those diagnosed with sickle cell disease are more likely to be poor and face challenges with access to stable housing and healthy food. 

Between 50% and 60% of people living with sickle cell disease are enrolled in Medicaid, a program that has historically struggled to connect people with high-cost medical therapies. As of December 2025, only 33 states and two territories had opted into a model designed to standardize Medicaid access to sickle cell treatments — leaving significant gaps. Cressy, who joins about 100 other Americans who’ve received this treatment, was able to access care under Louisiana’s Medicaid program.

Cressy knows that weight, and says he feels a sense of obligation because of it. 

“I feel like God chose me to be the first one in the state because my story, once I do finally become a commercial pilot, is going to be inspirational for a lot of people,” he said. “Overcoming what seemed impossible became my greatest blessing.”

Read More:

Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Attack ads aimed at Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming and U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow have been running for weeks as the two Republicans compete in the race for Louisiana’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Fleming said political action committees have been “running dishonest attack ads for two weeks solid,” including ads he said connect him to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I fully expect at some point they would connect me to the assassination of Lincoln,” Fleming said.

Letlow said she wants negative campaigning to stop.

“I’ve had $15 million dropped on my head in negative ads, and I understand that’s why people won’t run,” Letlow said.

Carbon capture has also been a major issue in the race. Carbon capture is described in the report as a process in which carbon dioxide from industrial installations or natural resources is separated before it is released into the atmosphere and then transported to a long-term storage location.

Fleming said he opposes carbon capture. Letlow said claims about her position have been misrepresented.

What Fleming, Letlow say on carbon capture

“I want a good economy for Louisiana, but there are things we have to do like lowering taxes, reducing insurance rates to get better business — not by a toxic dump of carbon dioxide,” Fleming said, referencing what he called “Julia Letlow and Jeff Landry’s method” of pursuing economic growth.

Letlow said she does not support projects that are not safe or lack community support.

“If the project is not safe, if it does not have community finance, I believe it should not move forward,” Letlow said. She also said she appreciates “the governor’s moratorium on the projects until they can be fully vetted,” and told voters not to believe what they read on social media.

Candidate backgrounds highlighted in the report

The report said Fleming previously served in Congress and was appointed to several positions in the Trump administration. Fleming is described as a Minden native, a Navy veteran, a physician and a businessman.

Fleming said he is mostly funding his own campaign.

“I can’t be bought,” Fleming said. “I stand for the individual people.”

The report said Letlow is a Monroe native. It said she ran in a 2021 special election for a vacant congressional seat previously held by her late husband, Luke Letlow, who died from COVID.

Letlow said her priorities include safe communities, border security and growing the economy.

“I want those safe communities for our kids,” Letlow said. “I will continue working with the president to make sure our border remains secure. I also want to grow our economy.”