““I want to tell them a little what HeLa means to me
as a young cancer researcher, and how grateful I am for their donation years
ago” he wrote. “I do not represent Hopkins, but I am part of it. In a way I
might even want to apologize.”” (Skloot, 234)
Apologies
are always difficult, especially if you are not the one at fault; however, Christoph
Lengauer a cancer researcher at John Hopkins Hospital saw the importance of an
apology to the Lacks family. I think this was a huge step in the novel; finally
a researcher that had used Henrietta’s cells had apologized for the disservice
that her family had experienced. This one simple step was exactly what the
Lacks family needed. It was clear that Deborah was grateful for the gift and
appreciated the apology even though she did not say it with words. Lengauer did
an amazing thing, which should have been done from a long time ago. I
especially appreciate how even though he was not the one to personally take the
cells, he does take responsibility and wants to apologize on behalf of the
people that did take the cells so many years ago. This really showed that
researchers really do have hearts and are not as cold and calculating as they
seemed in previous chapters. Langauer was able to recognize that what the
researchers did so many years ago was terrible and I hope that many other
researchers have the same mindset as him. I am extremely glad that a researcher
finally had the courage and dignity to offer the Lack family the apology that
they deserved after all of these years.
Word Count: 227
Skloot, Rebecca. The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2010. 234.
Print.
“I felt somehow bad for the Lacks family, they deserved better” (Skloot 234).
ReplyDeleteI agree that this chapter is a fundamental step in the book. Apologizing is always hard to do but is always very commendable. First of all, it is important to underline that Christoph Lengauer and Deborah finally meet on July 9, 2000 so the time has changed and the discrimination that existed when Henrietta died does not occur anymore. Although I believe that Christoph Lengauer did an amazing thing, his apology did not change the current situation. The family has been mistreated for years and has not received any money for a sacrifice that drastically ruined their lives. All the family wants is to understand what really happened to her mother and receive some credit out of it. They legitimately deserves something because everybody’s received some compensation but them, and that was they MOTHER (Skloot 233). The whole family, especially Deborah, is extremely skeptical towards doctors and journalist. Throughout the book, Deborah continually states, “I don’t know who to trust” because lots of people, especially white doctors, have lied to her in order to get more information about her mother (Skloot 240). I personally do not blame her for that. In fact, even though now Deborah is more willing to tell her mother’s story, she cannot forget all of the lies and abuses that these people have done to her.
Word Count 220