Sad news have come from Dimeji Bankole’s family, as his 7-year-old daughter Yewande Semiat has lost her life in a battle with a sickle cell disease.

According to the official statement released by Bankole’s grieving family, the girl was born with HBSS Sickle cell disease. Initially the girl was treated at a Lagos hospital but later was transferred to a London hospital.

Yewande passed away at 10.30pm on Wednesday October 1st, 2014 in London, UK. Her remains were buried according to Islamic rites. Yewande is the grand daughter of Chief Alani Suara Bankole and the daughter of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Sabur Bankole.

Sickle-cell disease or sickle-cell anaemia is a hereditary blood disorder, characterized by an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying haemoglobin molecule in red blood cells that leads to a propensity for the cells to assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle-like shape under certain circumstances.

Sickle-cell disease is associated with a number of acute and chronic health problems, such as severe infections and attacks of severe pain and an increased risk of death.