The Woman Who Changed Your Life

I recently finished reading (alright, listening to) a book that was so powerful I want to jump up on my soapbox and proselytize for the world to hear. So here's my pared back version...

The Book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Author: Rebecca Skloot

Here's the basic gist of the book:

Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman who, in early 1951, was diagnosed and treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital for cervical cancer. Unbeknownst to Henrietta, during her treatment one of her physicians took cells from both her tumor and the healthy portions of her cervix, in an effort to attempt to grow cultures from those cells.

Henrietta died later that year. Those cells are still alive today.

Henrietta's cells, known as HeLa cells, have been used in finding a cure for polio, learning more about cancer, studying viruses, the beginnings of in vitro fertilization and cloning. They were the first cells sent up in space. They have been "bought and sold by the billions" and "if you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons — as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings."

Her cells have impacted the way you and I live our lives. Imagine not having a cure for polio. Or if we had to continue to test vaccines and antibiotics on people, rather than cell cultures in a lab. Henrietta's cells were the first to survive - and thrive - in the lab environment and have surprised scientists for decades with their strength and vitality.

Her family has never received a dime for the sales of her cells, and they didn't even know about the cells and their amazing contribution to science until decades after she died. Until the day she died, Henrietta's daughter Deborah struggled to pay her own medical bills and had to use public clinics when she needed treatments - the treatments her mother's cells probably helped discover.

Rebecca Skloot took nearly a decade doing research on Henrietta, her family, her cells and their contribution to science. She saw a woman and a family who deserved more than anyone to be recognized for their contribution to society, yet never received it, and decided to do something about it.

This book is powerful, thought-provoking, educational and emotional. My heart ached for her family as they struggled with doctors testing them without informed consent, scammers trying to con them into taking ownership of the HeLa cells, slimy media leeches sensationalizing Henrietta and her story, and the bold-faced lies from doctors that they received throughout their lives.

If you are looking for a book that will open your eyes, make you take notice and keep you wanting to read more, I highly suggest this one. This story deserves to be heard.