Tosyn Bucknor died of sickle cell anemia, Sister confirms

FUNMI Bucknor, the sister to late Tosyn Bucknor, has confirmed the cause of death of the popular multi-talented On Air Personality cum actress.

Funmi, who took to her Instagram handle to confirm her sister’s untimely demise on Monday night, wrote that her sister died due to complications of sickle cell anaemia.

She said Tosyn was not just her sister but her best friend.

She wrote: “Hmm…My heart is heavy…but in all things, we give thanks to God. My darling sister and besto Tosyn passed away last night due to complications from sickle cell. Love you.”

The emotional post immediately generated over 5000 likes and comments from many of her colleagues in the industry.

Most of her colleagues gave varying testimonies about her life and times and it was easy to deduce that the late Inspiration FM OAP, ‘Tosyn’ Bucknor would be sorely missed for her immense contribution to entertainment in Nigeria.

Reports say she was found dead by her French husband who discovered her lifeless body after returning home from work on Monday night but details remain sketchy. Radio for Bucknor started with Tee-A on Eko 89.7fm after which she interned at Cool 96.9fm where she hosted the ‘Fun Hour’ on Saturdays. Since her youth service in 2009, Bucknor has been a morning show radio host at Top Radio 90.9fm until she joined Inspiration FM.

She has won or been nominated for several awards including Future Awards, ELOY Awards, Best of Nollywood awards and more. Tosyn Bucknor was 37.

In Nigeria, over 150,000 children are born annually with symptomatic sickle cell anaemia, 1-in-4 people are healthy carriers of the disease.

In the past, babies that were born with sickle cell disease had very little chances of making it to their 21st birthdays but advancements in medical science have brought blood therapies and transplant as palliatives to the disease and have helped to increase the life expectancy of sufferers by decades.