The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Henrietta Lacks was born as Loretta Pleasant in 1920 in Virginia. Her mother died when she was four years old, then her father took her and her siblings and moved them to Clover, Virginia where they lived with their grandfather. Henrietta lived with many of her cousins and worked the tobacco fields all day. She was really close with her cousin David “Day” Lacks. They ended up falling in love and having their first child when Henrietta was 14 years old. Henrietta and Day married in 1941 and then moved to Turner Station, which was located just outside Baltimore, Maryland so Day could work at a steel mill. In 1951 Henrietta thought she had a “knot on her womb” and went to John Hopkins Hospital to get it checked
…show more content…
The family was pretty hard to contact because none of them wanted to talk about Henrietta. Eventually the family warms up to Rebecca and talk to her about their Henrietta. Rebecca got very close with Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother and help Rebecca, but some days she would be very paranoid that Rebecca was only trying to make money off of her and then the next day she was ready to go out and do more research, but Rebecca was always patient with her. Deborah helped Rebecca contact most Henrietta’s living family that could give her more information including Day, and some of their other children. Rebecca educated the family about the HeLa cells and gave them a better understanding of what was going on. Once Rebecca had finally finished up her book she wanted to tell Deborah, but when she would try and contact her she never got a reply. She then found out from Deborah’s brother Sonny that she had a heart attack and died, but she was happy when she died. She was finally with her mother who she had longed to know for so long. The main characters of this book: Henrietta Lacks, a woman who died of cervical cancer and whose cells were taken and never stopped growing. Day Lacks, Henrietta’s husband who took her to John Hopkins and visited her. Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter who wanted to know more about her mother and her immortal cells. Dr. Jones, Henrietta’s gynecologist that first examined the tumor on her cervix. Dr. TeLinde, the surgeon who removed a sample of Henrietta’s tissues without notifying her. Dr. Gey, a doctor who grew, took care of and sold the HeLa
The family was pretty hard to contact because none of them wanted to talk about Henrietta. Eventually the family warms up to Rebecca and talk to her about their Henrietta. Rebecca got very close with Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother and help Rebecca, but some days she would be very paranoid that Rebecca was only trying to make money off of her and then the next day she was ready to go out and do more research, but Rebecca was always patient with her. Deborah helped Rebecca contact most Henrietta’s living family that could give her more information including Day, and some of their other children. Rebecca educated the family about the HeLa cells and gave them a better understanding of what was going on. Once Rebecca had finally finished up her book she wanted to tell Deborah, but when she would try and contact her she never got a reply. She then found out from Deborah’s brother Sonny that she had a heart attack and died, but she was happy when she died. She was finally with her mother who she had longed to know for so long. The main characters of this book: Henrietta Lacks, a woman who died of cervical cancer and whose cells were taken and never stopped growing. Day Lacks, Henrietta’s husband who took her to John Hopkins and visited her. Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter who wanted to know more about her mother and her immortal cells. Dr. Jones, Henrietta’s gynecologist that first examined the tumor on her cervix. Dr. TeLinde, the surgeon who removed a sample of Henrietta’s tissues without notifying her. Dr. Gey, a doctor who grew, took care of and sold the HeLa