Kim Lamb and Sheekeria Hargrave

Kim Lamb and Sheekeria Hargrave
Resides: Fernandina Beach and Yulee
Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina
Involvement with BDFF: New to the Foundation

When the bleeding disorders community is within the four walls of the home in which you grew up, you tend to know a bit more about the condition than most people. It can be a blessing and frustrating at the same time.

Kim Lamb, the eldest in a household consisting of four boys and her sister, Sheekeria Hargrave, learned first-hand about dealing with Hemophilia by helping to take care of her little brother at the family home in Lexington, North Carolina. Kim’s uncle and grandfather also suffered from bleeding disorders.

So when Kim’s son Ziamond was born, she was surprised he was not diagnosed at birth with a bleeding disorder.

“I knew all along,” says Kim, who now resides in Fernandina Beach. “He was finally diagnosed after a bleed out through his ears when he was 5.”
Her sister, Sheekeria, who has two sons suffering from Hemophilia A—Amari, 8 and Lorenzo, 2—says what she finds frustrating is the lack of knowledge or understanding of the disease outside of the bleeding disorders community.

“Schools don’t understand what is going on,” says Sheekeria, a resident of Yulee who just celebrated the birth of a daughter. “It is stressful trying to explain what to do with your child. They ask why he is missing so much school. He needs to be treated. He needs to go to the hospital. It can be tough, but I deal with it.”

Kim and Sheekeria were just recently introduced to BDFF by Social Worker Dina Richardson, but look forward to getting involved. Kim recently attended a family program and saw first-hand how interactions with other families in the same situation can be beneficial. She worries about Ziamond as he gets older and begins to realize some of the challenges associated with his disorder.

“He has his moments,” Kim says, noting he loves basketball, but was saddened when didn’t make the team. “There is a boy at school who also has Hemophilia, so they talk.”

Nonetheless, Ziamond likes to play video games, gets his share of exercise and has taken a self-infusion class on his way to earning more independence. He needs to infuse twice a week.

Sheekeria says Amari, at only 8 years old, wonders aloud at times why he has to be different than other kids at school. He receives an infusion once a week from a visiting nurse.
​
“Sometimes it leads to depression,” she says. “I tell him to keep praying.”

When you donate and participate at BDFF fundraising events, 91% of all of those dollars go back to supporting the Florida bleeding disorders community and families like Kim, Sheekeria, Ziamond, Amari, and Lorenzo. These dollars support the work that our social worker, Dina Richardson, does for our bleeding disorders community and the annual family program that Kim talks about in this story, among other things. Click here to check out our FUNdraising opportunities!