Louisiana teen goes home after receiving state's first pediatric gene therapy

Phillip Mullin, a 15-year-old from Alexandria, Louisiana, has left Manning Family Children's Hospital in New Orleans after becoming the first child in the state to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease. He is also the first person in Louisiana to receive Lyfgenia, a stem cell treatment designed to treat the condition.

Mullin’s departure was marked by a ceremony on Friday morning. Throughout his life, he had been hospitalized more than 100 times due to the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes sickle cell disease as a condition that causes abnormal red blood cells, leading to pain, infection, and stroke. The gene therapy aims to stop these cycles of severe health events.

Mullin’s mother, Shataka Figgins, told reporters that the hospitalization is now a memory. She said she will remember the sleepless nights and her fears that her son might not survive. “I think I’ll be unpacking every fear, every negative emotion that I had, every time I thought my baby wasn’t going to be here with me,” Figgins said. She added that she will also see “the young man who made it through.”

During his address to the audience, Mullin spoke about the cost of recovery. “Sacrifices are necessary,” he said. “You can’t gain anything without first giving something in return, although if you can endure that pain and walk away from it, you find that you now have a heart strong enough to overcome any obstacle.” His sister, Paige, attended the event and described the moment as emotional, noting that she never expected him to have this opportunity. “It just feels great,” she said.

Archie Manning, a New Orleans Saints legend and namesake of the hospital, attended the ceremony. He described Mullin as a “wonderful young man” with a remarkable mind and called the outcome “a miracle.” Manning said he had never seen anything quite like Mullin describing his journey with the disease.

Mullin plans to return to school and eventually become a hematologist/oncologist, a physician who treats blood disorders and cancer. He said he wants to be a doctor who can relate to sickle cell patients and understand their experiences. “I want to be a doctor that can relate to somebody. relate to a sickle cell patient and actually know what they’re going through,” he said.

For the immediate future, Mullin’s goals are personal. He said he plans to sleep in his own bed and build Legos with his baby sister.