Nollywood veteran Eucharia Anunobi has bared her soul in a heartbreaking revelation about her late son, Raymond, whose battle with sickle cell anemia not only cost him his life at just 17 but also shattered her marriage and career.
The actress, who got married in 2000, recalled how joy quickly turned into endless pain after giving birth to her only child. Hospital visits, sleepless nights, and mounting medical bills became her daily reality. What was supposed to be the happiest chapter of her life turned into years of anguish.
By 2006, the unrelenting pressure of caring for a chronically ill child tore her marriage apart. “Love disappeared. We became strangers who only talked about bills and blood tests,” she admitted, describing how constant blame and stress made her home unbearable until the union collapsed.
Forced to raise Raymond alone, Anunobi abandoned her acting career to focus on her son’s health. The emotional and financial toll left her drained. Yet, nothing could prepare her for the devastating blow that came when Raymond died at 17. “That pain is still with me every single day,” she confessed.
In her reflection, she turned her grief into a strong advocacy message: genotype awareness before marriage. She cautioned young lovers against ignoring medical compatibility in the name of romance. “Love is beautiful, yes, but it is not strong enough to carry the weight of sickle cell,” she warned.
Her story has reignited conversations on sickle cell disease in Nigeria, a country where over 150,000 children are born annually with the condition, according to the World Health Organization. Advocacy groups stress that awareness campaigns, genotype testing, and premarital counseling remain vital in curbing the heartbreaking cycle.
For Eucharia Anunobi, the tragedy of losing Raymond has become her life’s most painful lesson and her loudest message: “Don’t ignore your health in the name of love. Know your genotype, so your story won’t become like mine.”
