Henrietta Lacks

Hello, my name is Henrietta Lacks. I was born on a warm summer day, August 1st, 1920, in a town called Roanoke, Virginia. When I was a little girl, I lived on a big tobacco farm with my cousins. It was a happy time for me. I loved the feeling of the sun on my face and the earth under my feet. One of my favorite things to do was dance. I would twirl and spin around whenever I heard music. I also had a very caring heart and enjoyed taking care of all the farm animals. There were chickens to feed and cows to look after, and I loved them all. Life on the farm was simple but full of joy, and I spent my days playing with my cousins and helping my family with chores around the farm.

As I grew up, I met a kind man named David 'Day' Lacks. We fell in love and decided to spend our lives together. We got married in the year 1941. After we were married, we moved to a new place called Turner Station in Maryland to start our own family and build a happy life. Being a mother was the most wonderful job in the world. I had five beautiful children, and I loved them more than anything. Our home was filled with laughter and love. Taking care of my children, cooking our meals, and making our house a home brought me so much joy. My family was my whole world.

In the year 1951, I started to feel very sick. I went to a big hospital called Johns Hopkins so the doctors could find out what was wrong and try to help me feel better. While I was there, a doctor took a tiny piece of me, called a cell, to study it under a microscope. This was something doctors sometimes did back then to learn more about illnesses. They soon discovered something amazing that they had never seen before. My cells were special. Unlike other cells that would stop growing after a short time, mine could live and grow and grow, even outside of my body. The scientists were so excited. They named these special cells 'HeLa' cells, using the first two letters of my first and last name.

My sickness was very serious, and the doctors could not make me better. I lived to be 31 years old. But my story did not end there. Even after I was gone, my amazing cells kept living and growing in laboratories. For many, many years, scientists have used my HeLa cells to make incredible discoveries. They helped create medicines that protect people from getting sick, and they have been used to learn about many different diseases. My cells have helped save countless lives all over the world. I am remembered as a woman from a small town whose special cells changed the world of medicine forever and continue to help people everywhere.