Life on the Ebola frontline: 'I thought of nothing else except my death'
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Version 0 of 1. This is the story of Momodu, an ambulance driver who got Ebola in the line of duty. “I was an ambulance driver for the government hospital, when the virus hit parts of the district hard. I was sent to transport patients from there to the Kenema treatment centre. I was there for three weeks, working day and night. “I just woke up one morning and started feeling fever, pain all over my body and joints, and then my face began to swell. I was asked, ‘What is wrong?’ I told them that I took a medicine a few days back and there might be some side-effects. But as days went by the fever continued to get a grip of me. The fever was so much that, even when I stood under a hot, burning sun, I couldn’t feel the heat of the sun. It became so severe that I was not able to work any more. My blood sample was taken and, after three days, my results came [back] positive. So I was transferred to the Kenema treatment centre, alongside a nurse who died on the way. “At the treatment centre it was not easy, as you see someone who was next to you yesterday, physically fit, die before you know it. We were like a family in the treatment centre. I believe this was because we share the same faith. I couldn’t sleep, fearing that I was going to die in my sleep. I thought of nothing else except of my death. I was there for about three weeks before I was finally told I am free of the virus. “I was given one 19-pound bag of rice, one cooking pot, two [pairs of] trousers and a mattress. That was the first and last of anything I ever received. “My integration back into the community was a very difficult one. People were asked not to sit by me, others refused to come close. My money was rejected in the market. My neighbours were afraid of me, they said I still had the virus and until three months [had passed] no one should come close. It was a terrible experience, but things are now getting better. After about two months, my community finally embraces me. But it was a terrible experience.” Momodu’s experience in context Momodu had a terrible experience, as he was in the ambulance with another patient who died in his arms on their way to the treatment centre in Kenema. He said the man died not because of the Ebola virus but because he was suffocated by disinfectant that was sprayed in the ambulance. Momodu only survived because he was told by the driver, who was his colleague, to open the window of the ambulance to allow fresh air in. This is how some are perishing; those who could have survived the virus die even before they get to the treatment centre. This is just one out of so many hard stories you will hear from people who are survivors of the Ebola virus. Momodu is lucky to have got his job back after he fully recovered, but many have been stigmatised and left unemployed. How long can we continue suffering when these things could have been prevented? This virus has brought so many difficulties upon our lives: many jobs have shut down, prices of food commodities have doubled three times, teenagers are getting pregnant, and the death rate of Ebola-related cases is on the increase. When can the people have faith in our health infrastructure? When can the long lost trust between the health workers and the people be restored? When can we embrace one another and do what is right for the benefit of all? Until we are all in this fight together, similar stories will happen – if not here, then in other places. |