Tia Rodriguez, chef-owner of Urban Soul Market, is temporarily closing her plant-based ghost kitchen and catering business so she can focus on caring for her child, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease last October.
The self-taught vegan chef announced the move Sunday in an Instagram post, saying her attention is now on finding a cure for her son Kaleb, who’s experienced a “complete loss of leg functionality” due to his ailment.
“We will be stopping all events, pop ups, catering and ghost kitchen efforts in search of a cure to save his life at this point,” the post reads. “This is not goodbye but rather a very peaceful see you soon.”
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder marked by defective hemoglobin that inhibits the ability of hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Sickle cells tend to stick together, blocking small blood vessels and causing painful and damaging complications, such as sickle cell anemia.
According to a crowdfunding campaign created by Rodriguez, Kaleb was a healthy child living with the condition and experienced just a few episodes over the course of his life. However, last year, the episodes became increasingly frequent and his condition has become debilitating.
Rodriguez was unavailable for comment at press time.
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This article appears in Mar 22 – Apr 4, 2023.
