Sickle cell disease describes not just one, but a number of inherited red blood disorders (NIH, 2015). The disorders affect hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to cells throughout the human body. The disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner (UUHS, 2015). A child does not inherit the disease unless both parents pass on a defective copy of the gene (UUHS, 2015). A person who inherits one good gene and one bad gene is simply a carrier. The main phenotypic characteristics of an individual distinct from the disease are sickle-shaped blood cells. Blood cells are typically round and flexible so they can travel easily through blood vessels. When people contain the disease, their red blood cells become distorted by hemoglobin into a sickle-and-crescent shape (GHR,