A first in the Gulf South: Tulane doctor helps to 'functionally cure' sickle cell patient

His hospital room lit with the bright light of spring, Daniel Cressy lay in his bed knowing it was the first day of his new life.

Cressy, a 23-year-old from Metairie, had been born with sickle cell disease, a painful blood disorder once thought incurable. The condition had shaped his life from infancy and eventually put his dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot on hold after the Federal Aviation Administration rejected his application for a medical certification.

That rejection letter sat framed in the hospital room as Benjamin Watkins, section chief of pediatrics hematology/oncology at Tulane School of Medicine, infused Cressy with stem cells that had been taken from Cressy's body and genetically edited to prevent sickling in his bloodstream.

"I did not think I'd get this far - my life is changing forever as we speak," Cressy said at the time. "Thank you, Dr. Watkins, so much."

The infusion marked the culmination of a more than two-year treatment journey for Cressy, who became the first patient in Louisiana and the broader Gulf South to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease through gene therapy.

Exactly 100 days later, wearing a customized jacket emblazoned with the word "Reborn," Cressy rang a bell at Manning Family Children's to celebrate the success of his treatment.

"I can now live my new life with my new body, my new cells," Cressy said.

The milestone treatment also represents a significant success for the academic healthcare partnership between Tulane, LCMC Health and Manning Family Children's, where Watkins directs the Stem Cell Transplant Cell and Gene Therapy Program.

"It brings me so much joy to have been a part of this process to help him realize his dream that was unfortunately taken away from him because of a disease he was born with," Watkins said. "This is also bigger than us. This is a brand-new, innovative treatment for sickle cell disease, which has often been overlooked and stigmatized."

Cressy's remarkable story has touched lives across the state, as evidenced by those who attended the celebration. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter cheered Cressy on as he rang the ceremonial bell three times. Tulane President Michael A. Fitts, LCMC Health CEO Greg Feirn and Manning Family Children's President and CEO Lou Fragoso also congratulated Cressy and extolled the outcome of a partnership that demonstrated the ability to change lives.

"We are in the midst of a revolution in translational medicine, which brings research into clinical settings, and LCMC Health and Tulane are leaders in these efforts," Fitts said. "This is a powerful example of how Tulane and LCMC Health are working together to build a destination healthcare system that brings the most cutting-edge, research-driven treatments to patients across the Gulf South."

Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells to become rigid and crescent-shaped under stress, blocking blood flow and potentially leading to severe pain, stroke and other life-threatening complications.

The disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the world, affecting more than 100,000 people in the U.S., over 90% of whom are Black. Nowhere in the U.S. sees a higher prevalence of sickle cell disease than the South, and an estimated 3,000 people live with the condition in Louisiana.

For generations, treatment has largely focused on managing symptoms, preventing complications and controlling pain. Gene therapy, however, offers something fundamentally different: the possibility of changing the way a patient's body produces blood.

"No one else is able to deliver gene therapy right now in Louisiana or Mississippi or large parts of the South," Watkins said. "We're excited that it's time for Louisiana to lead the way and not just follow."

Sickle cell disease put Cressy's childhood dream of being a pilot on hold. But it was a flight he wasn't on - at least, not completely - that changed the course of his life.

In the summer of 2025, Cressy's stem cells were extracted and flown to Scotland, where they were genetically edited to help his body produce a form of hemoglobin that helps prevent red blood cells from sickling.

The cells were then shipped back to Louisiana. Cressy received chemotherapy to prepare for the treatment, and each day he looked out the window at the clouds he hoped to again fly above. At night, he kept his pilot training sharp by manning the controls of a full-size flight simulator. Of all the airports in the world he could choose on the simulator, he continued to practice his virtual landings at New Orleans Lakefront Airport.

The night before Cressy rang the bell to celebrate his hemoglobin being normal for the first time in his life, he drove to the Lakefront Airport and prayed.

"This entire journey was the hardest thing I've done in my life," Cressy said, referencing periods of uncertainty and the loneliness of isolation during chemotherapy. "But overcoming it now, I know that if I can do it, anybody can do it."

Tulane has been a fixture in Cressy's journey. Cressy has received treatment through the Tulane Sickle Cell Center of Southern Louisiana since he was an infant. And at the bell-ringing ceremony a group of Sickle Cell Center staff members stood in support of him.

"We watched his entire journey to this point," said Ernest DeJean, administrative director of the Sickle Cell Center. "We remember the times that he was admitted, the pain and the situations he suffered through. We remember when he came to us with the FAA rejection letter. It's so gratifying to see that this opportunity came to fruition. We were with him every step of the way."

The academic partnership and cutting-edge therapy that made Cressy's dream a reality also signals wider hope for those with sickle cell disease throughout the region.

"These innovative therapies have only been available at a handful of the major centers across the country," Watkins said. "By having these therapies here where the patients are, we're hopefully able to improve those health disparities and expand access to all patients."

The therapy will not be appropriate for everyone with sickle cell disease. It is intensive, highly specialized and requires months of preparation, treatment and recovery, according to Watkins. But he said the program's larger goal is to raise the standard of care for all patients, whether or not they receive gene therapy.

As for Cressy? The sky is the limit.