The death of a young woman who illegally lived in the country has intensified criticism of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s organ transplant policy, leading to a seven-mile march Sunday.

The family of Sarai Rodriguez says it holds the hospital accountable for her death Friday, saying the hospital rejected her requests for a life-saving liver transplant in March. Enraged by Rodriguez’s death, 40 protesters marched for five hours from Our Lady of Guadalupe Anglican Catholic Mission in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood to the hospital, demanding it provide organ transplants to patients without legal residency.

“Sarai was killed by the hospital,” said the Rev. Jose Landaverde, who led the group. “Sarai had the opportunity to live if the hospital performed the transplant. They didn’t do it because she was an immigrant without documents. They didn’t do it because it was a poor person who had no money or insurance to pay for it.”

Read more about the patients march to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

— Cat Zakrzewski

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