A 21-year-old New York man has made medical history, becoming the first in the state to be cured of sickle cell anemia through a groundbreaking treatment.
“We feel blessed to be the first to be able to offer this,” said Dr. Jonathan Fish of Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where the life-changing procedure was performed.
For his entire life, Sebastien Beauzile endured chronic pain and debilitating health complications caused by sickle cell anemia. Now, thanks to an innovative gene therapy, he is free from the disease.
“Sickle cell was like a blockade for me—now it’s like a wall that I just jumped over,” Beauzile said.
Doctors at Cohen Children’s Medical Center used the revolutionary Lyfgenia treatment, which modifies a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells to produce normal red blood cells. Unlike traditional transplants, which rely on donor cells, this therapy eliminates the risk of rejection.
“When we could use Sebastien’s own stem cells to do this therapy, we were delighted,” said Dr. Banu Aygun, one of the physicians involved in the groundbreaking procedure.
Dr. Jeffrey Lipton, another expert at Cohen Children’s, highlighted the historical significance of the achievement. “Sickle cell anemia has been mentioned in modern medicine texts since 1910,” he said. “And here we are more than 100 years later, and this is the first cure you are seeing.”
At a press conference, Beauzile expressed deep gratitude to the medical teams that transformed his life.
“To the Med Four team, the hematology team, the transplant team—you guys have really changed my life,” he said.
Sickle cell anemia disproportionately affects people of African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern descent, and Cohen Children’s Medical Center hopes to expand access to this breakthrough therapy for those communities.
For Beauzile’s mother, Magda Lamour, the moment was overwhelming. “Sebastien has been coming to this hospital since he was two months old. There are not enough words to show you how grateful I am,” she said.
With his future now free of the disease, Beauzile is eager to embrace life. He plans to travel, work out, and pursue a career in the medical field.
“Amazing—and I can’t wait to get back to my day-to-day life because now I feel unstoppable,” he said.
