JESSIE GAMBRELL
STAFF WRITER

David “Sonny” Lacks came to Escondido for a discussion hosted by CSUSM’s Associate Vice President for Educational Equity and Diversity, Derrick Crawford, on Tuesday, March 13.

Sonny Lack’s mother, Henrietta Lacks, grew up in Clover, Virginia during the 1920s. On Sept. 19, 1950, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer when doctors found a tumor in her cervix. After a hard battle with the cancer and multiple surgeries, she died on October 4, 1951.

But something happened before she died that changed the face of the medical field. During a surgery to remove her tumor, Dr. Johns Hopkins saved a few of her cells without her permission for research on Polio, an epidemic at the time. Once sent to Dr. George Gey, the research head of this project, Gey discovered that Lacks’ cells did not die unlike the hundreds of cells tested before her cells.

Almost 20 years later, they had taken her cells to space and back, as well as discovered cures for many diseases. And yet her family still was not informed of it. In spite of now knowing of it, Lacks’ family is still not being compensated for it, and many of them do not have health insurance.

“[An apology from Johns Hopkins University] would have been important to the family, I think. They have not apologized. I don’t think we should be compensated, but as they start commercializing her cells, I do think that we should be compensated for that. I still don’t have medical insurance—most of my family still [doesn’t] have medical insurance,” Sonny Lacks said.

Crawford also asked Lacks what he knew about his mother.

“They always tell me that my mother was a giving person. I like all the stories they said about my mother. Everything they told me about her was good. Even when she was sick, she’d come home and take care of the kids,” Lacks said.

Crawford then asked Lacks and his daughter Jeri what they think their mother’s legacy is.

“[Her legacy] is a gift. Just reading this book touches everybody’s lives. She is just a gift that keeps giving,” Jeri said.

The event was followed by a Q&A discussion from the audience.

The legacy of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells can be read about in Rebecca Skloot’s book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Rebecca Skloot’s book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” celebrates Lacks’ life and legacy.