VIRIGNIA BEACH, Va. — Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a recognition declaring June 19 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Day.
Sickle Cell Disease is a blood disorder that impacts more than 100,000 people in the US.
According to the CDC, Sickle Cell Disease is when a person's body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells.
Last year, Portsmouth native Ayana Johnson won Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen as a sickle cell warrior.
Monday, she was honored in Virginia Beach at a World Sickle Cell Awareness Day candlelight vigil.
Johnson is using her voice and her platform to advocate for sickle cell warriors everywhere, even speaking with President Joe Biden and a host of other legislators about affordable medication.
