Duke’s Cameron Boozer and his fraternal twin, Cayden Boozer, may go on to achieve great things in the NBA, but nothing they do at the professional level will top what they did when they were born. Their older brother, Carmani Boozer, suffered from sickle cell anemia, and Cameron and Cayden are the reason why he is fully cured today.
The story of the three brothers and the lengths their parents, Cindy “CeCe” Nichole Blackwell and former NBA star Cameron Boozer, went to is incredible. ESPN provided a look into their astonishing journey.
“A bone marrow transplant would allow Carmani to generate sickle cell-free blood, but neither CeCe nor Carlos was a genetic match with their son,” Lisa Salters said. “As CeCe researched, one fact stood out: the highest probability of a genetic match came from a sibling.”
Carlos and CeCe were initially shattered when they were informed that there was no known cure for Carmani’s illness. As you’d expect of a mother, though, she wasn’t going to just give up. This news about a sibling potentially curing Carmani, who was born on May 31, 2006, was met with joy, but there was also one big problem.
Carlos and CeCe had passed on the sickle cell trait to Carmani. Sickle cell anemia is a condition in which the body produces abnormal sickle-shaped red blood cells, which restricts blood flow and reduces oxygen transport. Another child could well end up in the exact same position, so they had to look for alternatives.
“In Vitro Fertilization or IVF is the process of fertilizing an egg outside of the body,” Salters said. “Then, implanting the embryo in a mother’s womb. Doctors harvested 34 eggs from CeCe, 10 became fertilized, sickle cell-free embryos.”
Of those 10, two were a genetic match. Now, there was real hope that Carmani would be cured.
According to ESPN, “an infant sibling who could donate cord blood (rather than bone marrow), rich in stem cells, from an umbilical cord would offer the best chance of a successful transplant and a cure.”
Cameron and Cayden were born on July 18, 2007. Their cord blood was put on ice to be transplanted later into Carmani’s system. The young child had to undergo chemotherapy and remained at Miami Children’s Hospital for 40 days. There was a chance he could die, but fortunately, he didn’t. Then, in May 2008, Carmani was fully cured.
Cameron feels it’s quite special that he and Cayden played a role in saving Carmani’s life.
“I was born for a purpose,” Cameron said. “Cayden was born for a purpose. And Carmani still being here because of us, it is kind of like something that ties us together.”
Carmani likes to tease his younger brothers for being the reason they were born, but is ultimately extremely grateful to them.
“I mean, they were only born because I was sick,” Carmani said. “Pretty much. But they saved my life, that’s what their comeback always is… Knowing that they’re the reason I’m alive really makes me want to appreciate them more because they did so much for me. They saved my life.”
View this post on Instagram
Now, these are three brothers who you’d hope stay together for the rest of their lives. This story makes you want to root for these Boozers even more.
While Cameron and Cayden have followed in their father’s footsteps and look set to enter the 2026 NBA Draft, their older brother took another route. Carmani headed to the University of Fort Lauderdale, where he played baseball last year.
