Henrietta Lacks- Medical ICON

A husband and wife are anxiously awaiting the birth of their fifth child and are discussing names. They are joyous and thankful for this blessing and the mother is looking forward to seeing her bundle of joy. They do not realize that their joy will soon turn to sorrow with unforeseeable events placed in their paths.

The family would eventually welcome their bundle of joy and the good times would begin and the future looked bright. Sadly, the family would face a battle that would have a rippling effect throughout the world today.

The mother, Henrietta Lacks, would find herself in the hospital after the birth of her son, Joseph at John Hopkins in November of 1950. She would be diagnosed with a vicious form of cervical cancer after experience multiple symptoms.

The trained staff was at a loss of words and had no effective treatments for Henrietta, simply because it was something they had never seen before.

The daughter of slaves and a poor tobacco farmer herself, Lacks was simply trying to hold her family together and prayerfully get over her illness and get back to raising her family.

Imagine, having kids to feed, clothes to wash and a future to hold onto and not knowing if you would survive this horrific time in your life. Sadly, Henrietta did not live to see any of those visions come to pass. Despite surgery and painful radiation treatments, along with her moaning daily for the Lord to help her, she slipped away at the young age of 31 years old. Her grief stricken husband, David, would have to carry the load of raising their broad of kids and answering multiple questions pertaining to their mother.





In another part of the city, Henrietta’s fame was about to spread in a way that many wouldn’t understand nor comprehend. Her cells had been harvested without her knowledge and had begun to multiply at a rapid pace. Dr. George Gev would go on to gain fame from the process of harvesting her cells and many would accuse him of taking on a God Like complex.

He called them HeLa cells and stated, "It is possible that, from a fundamental study such as this, we will be able to learn a way by which cancer can be completely wiped out." Gev introduced the nation to his hopes for curing cancer while Henrietta's family attempted to make some sense of what had transpired. Her family knew nothing of any cells and what they would be used for.
Amazingly, Henrietta’s cells would go on to be the precursor to being used to cure Polio and would heal thousands and eventually millions throughout the world.

From Henrietta's cells, they found their culprit as well as the solution to various vaccines. With this information, Jonas Salk and his colleagues in Pittsburgh created a vaccine, and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis established facilities for mass-producing the HeLa cells. Dr. Gev would gain fame for harvesting Lacks cells but sadly he passed away from a long term illness.

In the fall of 1970, the secret would begin rise to the surface and slowly many began to realize the origins of whom and what Henrietta Lacks was and what significant role she unknowingly played.

Her family would go on to feel that her story was never told in a profound and precise way. They know their mother's cells started a medical revolution and were brought and sold around the world. That eventually would change with the story author Rebecca Skloot and her being drawn to an inspiring story.

Skloot, a science and medical writer, would become enamored with Henrietta’s story. 2010 saw the release of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” a thought provoking and precise view of Henrietta’s illness as well as her unknowing gift to modern science.

Legends, Icons and Role Models salutes Henrietta Lacks for being an Unknowing ICON and one who single handedly brought healing to many!!!

Rest in Peace!!