Thursday 11 December 2014

My fight against an invisible enemy

Foday Gallah
Health workers fighting Ebola have been named as Time's "Person of the Year", and one face splashed on covers of the magazine is that of an ambulance driver, Foday Gallah, in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. Here he tells the BBC of his determination to battle a disease which almost killed him.
In August, I went to pick a little four-year-old boy up from his home. I knew the place well. I had already taken seven members of his family, who all eventually died. He was the last one.
I hadn't taken him before because he had showed no symptoms. But I had asked the neighbours to keep an eye on him and call me if he got sick.
On the afternoon of the morning that I took his father and grandmother and brothers, I got the call. I drove straight to his home and I saw the boy lying in a pool of vomit. I picked him up and I was carrying him in my arms to the ambulance when he vomited again on to my chest. As it turned out, my protective suit was not completely sealed, but in that moment I was very focused on what I was doing, getting him to the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment centre as quickly as possible.
The following Saturday, I went down with a fever. I gave myself some medication, but the fever wouldn't break. I told my family to stay away from me, and the following day I went to a treatment centre to be tested.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30418759

No comments: