. >> reporter: growing up in these mountains was a little girl, eula hall. bad was it here back then? >> well, we didn't have indoor plumbing, we didn't have running water, there was no health care for the people that didn't have insurance or have money. >> reporter: were people dying for no reason because there wasn't good health care? >> yes, they were. people died because they didn't get the proper health care. >> reporter: this was all dirt road? >> it was dirt. >> reporter: with the closest doctor 50 miles away on unpaved roads something as benign as an infected cut from a rusty nail could prove fatal. hall's education ended in the eighth grade and she began working with community organizers who taught her how to fight to get things done. she eventually became the driving force in changing her corner of appalachia. >> okay, senator kennedy -- >> reporter: politicians took notice. that's senator kennedy? >> yeah, that's senator kennedy. >> reporter: it meant a lot to you he would come here? >> oh, lord, it did. i was so happy to talk to him. >> reporter: