Popular Nigerian artiste and songwriter, Adekunle Gold, has revealed that he begged God to take his life when he was 20 years old.

Adekunle Gold said this in a letter to his fans, on Friday, July 15, disclosing that he was born with sickle cell disease, and it was frustrating and painful at some point in his life.

The 35-year-old singer said: “I was born with sickle cell disease. It was life and death, it was physical, mental, financial, you name it, and I went through it all.

“It was tough, painful and frustrating for me. The pains and shivers were unbearable. They (crisis) always came in the night, when my family had no means to transport me to a hospital.”

Adekunle Gold stated that at some point his family couldn’t afford the hospital bills so he had to endure the pain.

“The most intense crisis I had was at the age of 20, I remember laying in my bed in the middle of the night asking for an end to it all. I begged God to take my life because I could not understand what I did to deserve the pain my body and mind was under.

“As usual with sickle crisis after some days, the pain subsided, and God asked me; “That end you begged me for, do you still want it?” Of course I said no and that’s when everything changed for me. That was when I realised that I had been given another opportunity to live my dreams and show those that mocked me that sickle cell anemia was never going to end me, that it would never hold me back from my dreams and aspirations.”

He added that although some symptoms resurface once in a while, the disease gave him hope and taught him to be resilient.