A rare complication of sickle cell trait is sudden death and collapse. Mili
tary recruits, pilots, and subjects exposed to hypoxic stress such as high
altitude and experiencing sudden cardiorespiratory collapse as a result of
sickle cell trait have been well described. This is a case of a 13-year-old
black male who collapsed after a police pursuit and was found to have sick
le cell trait and microscopic evidence of asthma.