Emotions as Ebola survivors recount experiences
After series of tests carried out on him at First Consultant Hospital at Obalende, Lagos, his health continued to deteriorate. By the time officials of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) of Federal Ministry of Health arrived at the Medical Centre it was discovered that Sawyer’s ailment is a full blown EVD.All members of staff […]
After series of tests carried out on him at First Consultant Hospital at Obalende, Lagos, his health continued to deteriorate. By the time officials of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) of Federal Ministry of Health arrived at the Medical Centre it was discovered that Sawyer’s ailment is a full blown EVD.
All members of staff of the hospital that had direct contact with Patrick Sawyer were quarantined to contain the spread of the deadly disease.
The affected medical personnel were kept at an Isolation Centre hurriedly put together by the state government in conjunction with the Federal Government. At this centre located within the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, the quarantined medical officers were to spend 21 days incubation period within which an infected person is expected to live or die.
Within this stipulated time, some of these medical officers died, a protocol officer at the ECOWAS office in Lagos who had direct contact with Sawyer also died. Some secondary contacts that tested positive were also kept at the isolation centre for a period of 21 days.
Fortunately, some among the first contacts and all the secondary contacts survived the disease, except the Port Harcourt doctor that treated a diplomat who had direct contact with Sawyer and sneaked out of the isolation centre.
The Port Harcourt doctor died but his wife, Dr. Kelechi Enemuo who was brought to the Lagos isolation centre for monitoring survived the disease. Thus, on Thursday, Lagos State government celebrated the survivors at an event that sparked emotions and tears from some of the listeners when they recounted their experiences as an infected EVD patient. Their testimonies goes as follows:
Dr. Morris Ibeawuchi (First Consultant Medical Centre)
“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 me 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 was there, kept quiet. He lied to me that he was in a conference and felt so weak. As a result, people rushed him to First Consultant not knowing that he collapsed at the airport.
“On that very day, the ECOWAS Protocol Officer who was there did not say anything. 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 lever function test was not available. I told Dr. Adadevoh about the Malaria Parasite result, and she was so confused because the man came in with a temperature of 39.7 degree. She said I should just admit him. We commenced with the malaria treatment.
“The next morning, Dr. Adadevoh came and at that time, the liver function test was already out and the result was so terrible. That made us concerned. 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 with him, I always took his samples. Before I went there, it took me hours. But I summoned courage to do my duties. 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 that Sawyer had Ebola and that I should be careful. We placed him under surveillance. But Sawyer died.
“On the twelfth day, my temperature which is always 36 degree, was 37.7 degree. I felt the whole world was against me. I was down with fever and became so weak. I lost my appetite. I left my house, because my brother, his wife and the two kids also live there. When I developed the symptoms, I was so bothered about my family members. I had to put a call to Lagos State Ministry of Health.
“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 degree. It rose to 38 degree, then to 41 degree.
“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. At that point, Dr. David was the only doctor attending to us. He tried a lot to save my life. He had to rehydrate me. After that, they left me to my fate.
“That was around 9:00 p.m. How I made it that night was a miracle 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. At the time Dr. David came, he was dumbfounded. After some few minutes, he told me that my condition was so bad that he doubt if 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. After some days, he took my samples for investigation. It was positive. He took another sample, and it was positive. He took third samples, it was negative. At that point again, the fever that had subsided began. I said God, is it Ebola again? He then told me that it might be malaria. He placed me on anti-malaria drugs. After sometime, the whole thing subsided. That is how I survived the virus.”
Dr. Fadipe Akiniyi (FCMC)
In his words, “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 told myself
what is going on? Once, I have 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 so. 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 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 school, we had a lot of things on haemorrhagic virus. How it wrecked direct havoc on human beings, bleeding and all that. You continue to bleed until you are dead.
“I was very devastated but I kept faith. I remember Dr. Adesina (Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Public Health) telling me when we got there that I would leave this place that no matter what happens, I would leave this place. She said as it is, people survive the virus, that I should not mind that I would survive the disease. 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. Dr. David really tried. He really tried. He committed himself totally to us and if I should have a time to meet him again, I think I will tell him he is a very brave man, leaving his comfort zone to come and treat us here in Nigeria. Knowing that with these people, after a couple of time, you could actually contract the disease. It is not easy. I thank God because with time, things got better. The vomiting stopped and the fever subsided and eventually, I was declared Ebola negative.”
Dennis Akhaga (lost his wife Justina Echelonu who was a nurse at the FCMC)
He said, “My case was different, I wasn’t among the doctors, my wife, Justina Echelonu Obioma happened to be one of the nurses that cared for the index case. 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, it was her first day 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, but 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 case was announced and she told me that she cared for him at the hospital and 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 and 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 well, maybe the fever was pregnancy induced, but it didn’t stop. Fever in the morning and night and the highest temperature she got was 41degree.
“She called her gynaecologist because she was being conscious of what she could take and what she would not take. On the 14th day after her contact she went down, she started bleeding and vomiting and I think if we had taken her out of the house earlier, may be she could have made it. Even when I went to the house, she threw up, she requested for pap, I made it for her, she threw up on me, that was when I understood what I was up against.
“But I felt well, I was already 100 percent exposed, so I continued to clean her up and made sure she was okay. There was no way I could run away from her. I had to get a taxi for her and made sure the taxi man didn’t have any contact with her. Sometime the Taxi man will attempt to help her into the car, I refused. The response at the Infectious Disease Hospital was okay, at that point I was so careful. I was believing God for her, I trusted God for her, I think she gave up on herself, when I was taking care of her, my own symptoms started coming up.
“I just felt I could not afford to come down with illness, because there would be nobody to take care of her or myself. Even when I got to the hospital to see her, I would return home with fever, my temperature rose from 35. 2 degree to 37.2 degree, I was shocked. I was so dehydrated, I called my step mum who is a nurse, and she encouraged me to continue to take enough water, so I started taking lots of water until when she gave up.
“Two days after she died, the Lagos State Ministry of Health began to monitor me, call me regularly, to trace my contacts and to know my temperature and state of health. When the thing went out of hand, they said they would come and pick me, I agreed, but the next day, it became normal. They came back again to pick me, but I told them I was fine, I was confident of myself, I had faith in myself and knew that Ebola was not a death sentence, but seek early medical attention.
“I guess my prayer worked for me. People stood by us, it wasn’t easy. I felt weakness in my waist, muscles and ankle. 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. At a point, Justina believed she would be fine, before she gave up, she gave me confidence that she would pull through, but she had also told a friend she was going to die. God has given us second chance to know what we are here to do, to fulfil purpose and touch other people’s lives. Nigeria has beaten the record of high mortality.”
Dr. Adaora Igonoh (FCMC)
“Today is 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. Thank you so much Governor Fashola, we can’t thank you for everything. 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 happens 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 to the Lagos State government, and the Ministry of Health as well as the Federal Ministry of Health. 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, I was 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 chicken and chips to me, I was amazed. Thank you so much. It told me a lot. Thank you for coming to the houses to decontaminate, saving our families who were with us at the early part of the disease when we didn’t even know we were infected. ”