Our ordeal, by Ebola survivors
FOR about 30 minutes yesterday in Lagos, five of the nine survivors of
the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) took turns to recount their battle
with the ailment.
They were guests of Governor Babatunde Fashola at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja.
They could hardly contain their emotions. Some fought back tears. Others sobbed. But in unison, the survivors were grateful to God for a second chance to live.
They were mostly doctors with First Consultant Hospital in Lagos, where the index case was first recorded.
The doctors explained that they thought they were dealing with just
another patient when the Liberia- American Patrick Sawyer was wheeled
into the hospital on July 20.
ut to their chagrin, as the days
rolled by after Sawyer’s demise, they discovered they had the deadly EVD
to contend with as many of them were already infected with the virus.
Before the meeting began, few of the survivors felt intimidated by the
cameras and walked out of the room to escape the prying eyes of
reporters. But those who stayed back buried their heads in reflective
moods.
But their confidence seemed to have been buoyed when at about 5:40p.m, Fashola walked in.
With a brief introduction, Commissioner for Health Dr. Jide Idris said
the essence of bringing the survivors to share their experience was to
help eradicate stigmatisation, which they were contending with.
The stories of the survivors below were revealing:
Dr. Adaora Igonoh: we risked our lives for Nigeria
Dr. Igonoh, who was one of the doctors who attended to Sawyer, was the
first person to recount her experience. She described yesterday as a
“glorious day”.
“It’s a day of joy. I want to say that we are here
today because of God. We survived. We are privileged to see this day, to
be here with everybody; it’s an honour.
“We at First Consultants
Medical Centre took a risk. We risked our lives because we knew that we
wanted to ensure the safety of Lagosians, Nigerians and humanity;
because we are a global village. From a small village, it can spread to
the world and we knew the implications. But we said we would risk our
lives and we would not let the index case leave the hospital.
“We
remember the people that we lost; the wonderful people who risked their
lives and we say that we would never forget them. We can’t. Our lives
have been changed; every one of us who went through this ordeal, we know
that we are better for it. Everything happened for a reason and we must
find out the purpose and the reason why we went through what we went.
“We want to say thank you very much to the Lagos State, the Ministry of
Health, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Centre for Disease
Control. I was a full witness to the efforts to contain the virus.
“In fact, there was a time I asked for chicken and chips at the
isolation centre, and it was brought. I was surprised. I asked because I
wanted to see if they would honour my request and they brought the
chicken and chips to me. I was amazed. Thank you so much. Thank you for
coming to our houses to decontaminate them, saving our families who were
with us at the early part of the disease when we didn’t even know we
were infected,” she explained.
After she narrated her story, her confidence rubbed off on others who were earlier reluctant to speak.
Dr. Fadipe Akinniyi: I only opened the door for Sawyer
Dr. Akinniyi is another doctor at the First Consultants Hospital. He
said he was amazed that he came down with the virus. He revealed that
the only contact he had with the index case was opening the door leading
to his ward.
His words: “I am most happy here today because as
matter of fact, when everyone was running helter-skelter, I told myself :
‘I only opened the door and by the virtue of that, nothing should
happen to me.’ I never knew I was deceiving myself, until the day I
recorded my temperature and there was a kind of spike. And I asked
myself , ‘what is going on.’
“I once treated malaria a while ago and
I told myself that it could be malaria. I used anti-malaria drugs, but
nothing changed. Rather, it was getting worse. Eventually, I went to a
private hospital to treat myself because I did not want to admit it was
Ebola. I felt they would be able to proffer solutions to all my
problems, but it wasn’t to be. Rather, it was becoming terrible and I
started stooling and vomiting.
“I summoned the courage and called
the doctors at the monitoring units that my temperature has been
persistently high. They told me not to worry that they would come to
pick me up. In another four hours, they came with ambulances and before I
knew it, I found myself at Yaba Isolation Centre. It all happened like a
dream, because I have read a lot about Ebola even while in schools. We
had a lot of things on hemorrhagic virus, how it wreck direct havoc on
human beings, bleeding and all that.
“You continue to bleed until
you are dead. I was very devastated, but I kept the faith. I remember
Dr. Adesina telling me when we got there that I would leave this place.
That no matter what happened, I would leave this place. She said people
still survive the virus and that I should not mind that I would survive
the disease. So, I kept my faith and with the help of God. I am very
grateful to Dr. David, who was the initial doctor who attended to us
before our doctors who were on strike finally emerged. I was very happy
to reunite with my family and everything changed back to normal”.
Dr. Morris Ibeawuchi: I was forced to attend to Sawyer
Another doctor at the Hospital, Morris Ibeawuchi took time to recount his dramatic ordeal.
He was forced by one of his colleagues to attend to the late Liberian-American the day he was wheeled to the hospital.
He said: “I was the person that received Patrick Sawyer the day he was
rushed to First Consultant Medical Centre. It was like a joke. I did
not know what came upon that day. Unlike me, I was so reluctant to
attend to him. But I was compelled by my colleagues to attend to him.
“When I got there, I was just talking to him. It was very unlike me.
Being a doctor, you must examine your patient. After due examination, I
asked him some questions. But Patrick Sawyer lied to me. Even the ECOWAS
Protocol Officer, who saw him to the hospital, kept quiet. I asked him
why he was in First Consultant. He lied to me that he was in a
conference and felt so weak and as a result, people now rushed him to
the First Consultant. I didn’t know that he collapsed at the airport.
After sometime, I took his samples and sent it to the lab.
“I also
informed Dr. Adadevoh (now of blessed memory). She told me to get back
to her as soon as the result is out. When the result came out,
everything was normal. But that night, the liver function test was not
available. I told Dr. Adadevoh about MP result, and she was so confused
and shivering because the man came in with a temperature of 39.7.
“She said I should just admit him. We treated him. We commenced with the
malaria treatment. The next morning, Dr. Adadevoh came around and we
all went there. At that time, the liver function test was already out
and the result was so terrible. That made us to be so concerned. After
we went around, Dr. Adadevoh went for her daily clinic. It was at that
point that one of the ECOWAS officers now came in and brought us
information that Patrick Sawyer collapsed at the airport. After that,
she asked whether I got the information. That was how the whole thing
started.
“From there, we instituted barrier nursing technique. She
tried as much as possible to get through to the Lagos State Ministry of
Health. Again, I was asked to take Sawyer’s sample. Since I had already
had contact, I was the person that always took his samples. Before I
went there, It took me hours. But I summoned courage to do my duties.
So, I went there. When Sawyer was trying to explain, I asked him to hold
his peace and should not tell me anything. After that, I took samples
and dropped it at the blood unit. The next day, Dr. Adadevoh was so
busy. She was just going from one place to the other, working hand in
hand with the Lagos State Ministry of Health. She called me later in the
evening and told to be careful. She said she just got a call that the
result of the test showed the feature of Ebola Virus Disease. She warned
me to be careful and that Sawyer should be treated as the case of
Ebola, not even the suspected case of Ebola. We placed him under
surveillance. But Sawyer died. But on the twelfth day, it was very
terrible.
“My temperature is always 36. But that same fateful day, I
checked my temperature and it was 37.7. I felt the whole world was
against me. I was down with fever and became so weak. I lost my
appetite. At that moment, I needed some people to talk to. I left my
house, and in that house, I have my brother, his wife and the two kids.
When I developed the symptoms, I was so bothered about my family
members. I had to put a call to the Lagos State Ministry of Health. The
ministry asked me not to make contact with my family and so on. At that
time, I was still thinking it was malaria. I took anti-malaria drugs and
nothing changed. The rate at which my temperature rose was screaming.
At the first check, my temperature was 37.7. It rose to 38. The highest I
measured was 41.
“The health ministry came and decontaminated the
whole house. When I was at the isolation centre, the Lagos Ministry of
Health attended to me. I was stooling and vomiting. I even became
weaker. There was a night I thought my existence on this earth had
ended. At that point, Dr. David was the only doctor attending to us. He
tried a lot to secure my life. He had to rehydrate me. After that, they
left me to my fate. That was around 9p.m. How I made it that night was
miraculous to me. I know the hand of God was upon my life. Dr. David
came the next morning. As he was leaving the night before, I was gasping
and found it difficult to breathe. When he came back that morning, he
was dumbfounded. After about few minutes, he told me that my condition
was so bad that he did not know that I was going to make it. He thought
he would meet my lifeless body at the isolation centre.
“But I am alive today to the glory of God.”
Dennis Echelonu: God took my wife and saved me
Echelonu, another survivor was fortunate, but lost his wife, Justina
Echelonu Obioma. Justina was one of nurses who attended to Sawyer at the
First Consultant Hospital.
His story: “She got contact with the
index case and when she came back home, she told me. We didn’t know what
was happening because she was having symptoms. She was two months
pregnant. She was feeling feverish. In fact, that was her first day on
the job and her first patient was Patrick Sawyer.
“She just resumed
that day. I encouraged her to go to work, but she was reluctant because
of her situation. I had to convince her to go and tell them in the
hospital about her condition so that they can give her more time.
“When she came back the following day, she went to work again. Then the
next two days, she was off. We were just at home when the Sawyer’s case
was announced and she told me that she cared for him at the Hospital. I
asked her if she was sure about what she said, because we have been
hearing about it.
“I asked her what kind of contact she had with
him. She said she used protective gloves. Hearing that, I felt rest
assured. In fact, she came to the house and was thanking God that she
used gloves. She was just praying and then the fever persisted and
didn’t go down. But because of the assurance that she gave me, I felt
okay. I said maybe the fever was pregnancy induced; but it didn’t stop.
Fever in the morning and night and the highest temperature she got was
41. She called her gynaecologist because she was being conscious of what
she could take and what she would not take.
“The response at the
Infectious Disease Hospital was okay. At that point, I was so careful. I
trusted God for her, but at a point, she gave up on herself and she
died later.
“I finally found myself as a suspected case and after
being a suspected case for a while, I was praying continuous and I guess
my prayer worked for me. People stood by us, but it wasn’t easy. I felt
weakness in my waist, muscles and ankle.
“My being alive today,
even though I lost someone, God knows why and has a reason for
everything. I just want to bless God and everybody who stood by us. Dr.
David especially, who did a lot of work on Justina.”
Dr. Kelechi Enemuo: God saved me and my baby
Dr. Kelechi Enemuo, wife of the late doctor, Dr. Iyke Enemuo who
treated the Nigeria Diplomat in Port Harcourt fought back tears as she
spoke for a few minutes.
“I just want to thank God for keeping me and my baby. And to my husband, I say may he rest in peace,” she said taciturnly.
Some members of the State Executive Council, who were also present,
were caught in the emotions as they listened with rapt attention to the
testimonies of the survivors.
Fashola: Your testimonies will end stigmatisation
Fashola, after listening to their ordeal, said: “We sympathise with you
for the trauma that you went though. Perhaps it was avoidable. But I am
sure that hard lessons have been learnt.
“Beyond that, I must
congratulate you the survivals of the EDV. I felicitate with you and
members of your family and friends. But most importantly, I thank you so
much for coming forward because you took a great thing and you showed
so much courage.And you have helped us to take next step forward. And
you have helped us to put an end to the spread of the EVD. I am sure
that from today, people watching and listening to you, especially those
that are victims wherever they maybe, will be encourage to come forward
and seek help.
“And that people who stigmatise can change their
approach. Sick people need help, care, love and affection. They did not
need to be discriminated. Perhaps many of those who stigmatise people
with disease will learn from the testimonies that you have given about
people like Dr. David. He risked everything so that you all can be
alive.”
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