Kidney Kin: Inside the Transatlantic Transplant Trade (Underground MARKETS‪)‬

Lucille Hubbard is a tiny woman. Lucille, not her real name, is poor, black, and dependent on Medicaid and public assistance. After leaving the West Indies for New York as a young adult, Lucille made her living caring for people in need. Before turning 25, however, she learned that she suffered from untreated hypertension and kidney disease. Her physician at a large public hospital told her that her end-stage renal disease was dire. She would need dialysis while waiting for a transplant, or she would die. "I went through so much in my life," Lucille said. "This seemed like the last straw." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]