dr. freeman introduces dee dee to his patient, cynthia dodson. cynthia was diagnosed late with stage iv breast cancer, as is so often the case when women are uninsured. >> i'm supposed to die? because i wasn't, you know, born with a silver spoon? i'm supposed to die? you have to come in with the attitude that, okay. i have cancer, but i'm not trying to die. i'm doing my best to live, i'm doing my best to think positive. prayer worked for me a lot. it wasn't so much prayer with others, it was more of me one on one with god myself. because i had plenty of nights where i was like, please don't take my life. >> it's women like you that make me want to be a better person and go out there and fight as hard as i can. >> reporter: out of her own pocket, dee dee paid for cynthia's care. but it was too late. the disease that brought them together ultimately separated them. cynthia died at age 44. >> it's not acceptable that women die of breast cancer or because they're poor. and because they're uninsured. we can fix that, america. >> reporter: if dee dee r

dr. freeman's work can be found on our

dr. freeman today. >> that is where dr. as i understand it, have something of a revelation, as you were going through this terrible bat well breast cancer, you looked around that hospital waiting room and you saw there were those who had far fewer resources and you wondered how are they managing this? tell us about that moment for you. >> the questions were coming, you know, what do you mean i can't pick up my child for 30 days after having a double mastectomy. how am i going to drive to work? and all of the things that i wasn't facing because i had help, and people to take care of me, so it was at that moment that i vowed to help women that didn't have access, and to give them the help that they needed. >> i know that's when you got contacted with dr. freeman. put it bluntly your philosophy is having cancer and being poor can be a lethal combination. >> that is so often the case. for the 40 years i've been in harlem, i've faced many, many poor women with breast cancer in particular, and they have great barriers in getting