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Dozens of Siouxlanders rolled up their sleeves to give the gift of life. The blood bank held a blood and bone marrow drive in honor of a ... all » little boy battling a sickle cell disease. It's an inherited blood disorder that affects his red blood cells. La'Keshia Rainy gave birth to her son, Malik Byrd just three short years ago. After Malik went through all of the normal test for babies, doctors realized something was wrong. La'Keshia Rainy, Malik's mother, says "When Malik was two weeks, I got the initial call that he needed to come in. And that's when it was determined that he had sickle cell anemia." The news was something this first time mom wasn't expecting. Rainy says "I was in denial. When he had his first crises, that's when it dawned on me that wow, Malik has sickle cell disease. I thought, you know, why me? Then finally I quit crying and I said, why not me?" Now, many blood transfusions later, Malik looks and acts like any other toddler. Rainy says "I realized that this was something we can manage. I would have not wanted Malik to have been born to any other mother." This disease is manageable, but often there are no real answers of how to make it go away. Rainy says "There is no universal cure. There have been some people who have been cured from sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant." A cure for Malik is something La'Keshia and her family, wish for everyday, but even more... she wants people to be aware of the benefits of donating blood. Rainy says "There is a need for blood donations, even if it isn't for Malik. What if it were your daughter? Or your son? Or your mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother? Would you donate? Would you want someone else to donate?" A donation that takes just six minutes can change a person, like Malik's, life forever. Rainy concludes "I just hope that Malik lives his life to the fullest, and he will, I know he will. He's so lively and he will." This month is sickle cell awareness month. This is the third year La'Keshia has held the blood and bone marrow drive.   «