VICTORIA Yillah , is identified as the
first person to be cured of the deadly
Ebola virus in Sierra Leone . Victoria
was pregnant when she was
discharged from hospital in the
eastern city of Kenema after hovering
for weeks between life and death
battling the tropical disease .
“ I am thankful to God to have
survived the ordeal . I can hardly say
more, I am overjoyed , ” she told the
Sierra Leone Broadcasting
Corporation . Health officials in
Kenema say no other Sierra Leonean
had been given the all - clear before
Yillah ’ s recovery, although three more
unnamed survivors have since been
announced .
“ Victoria was among people tested
and confirmed as having the Ebola
disease . She tested positive three
times , ” said district medical officer
Mohamed Vandi. “ We are thankful
that we didn’ t lose her . The family is
grateful to God and to all others that
fought to save her life , ” said her
husband Saidu .
Acclaimed survivor
Victoria isn ’ t the only acclaimed
survivor of Ebola disease. The World
Health Organisation reported seven
survivors in 2002 after the disease
broke out in Kibaale district, South
Western Uganda. One them was
Gloria Tumwijuke , a midwife, who
contracted Ebola in the course of her
duty . “ I will continue to love and
serve ” , she vowed as she was
introduced as one of the survivors of
Ebola .
In tears, Gloria narrated how she
unknowingly contracted Ebola while
helping a mother in labour. “ I came in
contact with her blood which is
common in my work , but after one
week , I fell sick with symptoms of
Ebola ” , she narrated. Her condition
deteriorated and she was eventually
transferred to Mulago National
Referral Hospital in Kampala for
advanced care .
The Uganda Virus Research Institute
in Entebbe was quick in testing
Gloria ’ s blood sample . Within hours
UVRI positively confirmed the Ebola
virus as the cause of her illness one
more example of a dedicated midwife
that indeed got the infection in the
line of duty . Miraculously , Gloria
recovered . “ I thank God to be alive , I
am just lucky , but I am suffering from
the after effects of the disease. I
forget a lot and I have lost all my hair
as you can see . But doctors tell me I
am okay and I will overcome these
problems with time” .
But for Alice Ngonzi Isoke, another
Ebola survivor , the situation is rather
different – even tragic . Alice is from
the family with the probable index
case and most of the Ebola deaths
from this outbreak occurred in her
family. “ We really suffered ; most of
my brothers, their wives and my
father died. On one day we buried
three people and almost all of us at
home were sick , ” she narrated.
Most of the boys in Alice ’ s family
died, she is now the heir to her father
and head of the family. “ I am now my
mother ’s husband, my sister ’ s father
and my child’ s grandfather , ” she
announced amid laughter and looking
at her mother who is also an Ebola
survivor . Alice ’ s dilemma is
compounded by the stigma she and
her family have to endure in the
village . “ Ever since I left the hospital,
nobody comes here anymore; people
don ’t even come to our home . They
think we still have Ebola ” .
Then there is Diana Alinaitwe, Alice ’ s
sister - in - law who was married to
Alice ’s young brother who died of
Ebola . As the disease claimed lives in
Alice ’s family where Diana also lived,
she decided to return to her father’ s
home in Manyinja Village , Kyebando
Sub County. The fear and stigma for
Ebola is so deeply rooted in this
community to the extent that Diana
was not only rejected by her parents ,
but also chased away ! No amount of
explaining and counseling would
convince them to accept their own
daughter .
Source:NigeriaCamera
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