Mr Pooley
The British
nurse struck down by ebola while working in West Africa has vowed to
return to the disease-hit region as soon as he is better.
William
Pooley contracted the deadly virus while working 18 hour days at a
desperately understaffed hospital in Sierra Leone, where medics are
battling to contain the outbreak.
He
is now being treated on a London hospital ward after he was airlifted
back to the UK by the RAF after catching ebola from the very victims he
was trying to save.
But
he has told friends in Africa he is sure he will beat the disease - and
is determined to fly back to the region to save other victims when he
recovers.
William Pooley in his blue scrubs seen working in Freetown, Sierra Leone, before he caught ebola
Gabriel
Madiye, who worked alongside Mr Pooley at the Shepherd's Hospice in
Freetown, was one of the last people to speak to the British nurse
before he was flown home.
He
told the Sun: 'He was very sure that once he was in England, the
excellent medical care in Great Britain would help him recover in a
matter of weeks and he would come back to us.'
Before
contracting ebola, Mr Pooley, 29, had graphically depicted the horror
in the African hospital where he had selflessly volunteered to help
those stricken by the outbreak.
William Pooley pictured just days before flown to the UK after testing positive for the Ebola virus
He was
forced to make the painful decision to leave sufferers alone overnight
after the other staff fled. It came after angry locals rioted outside
the hospital in response to rumours that ebola was a ruse to steal
sufferers' blood and harvest their organs.
'We
gave the patients water and paracetamol and then we had to walk out,'
he had said. 'Patients are dying the most horrible deaths. I'm expecting
to find several corpses tomorrow morning.'
Mr
Pooley was pictured in a white infection control suit at the hospital
in Kenema, the third largest city in Sierra Leone and a hot-spot for
ebola.
Mr Pooley, sitting on ground
writing, was forced to make the painful decision to leave sufferers
alone overnight after the other staff fled
He remained positive when he was interviewed less than a fortnight ago, choosing to focus on the patients who had recovered.
'It's great seeing them walk away after some of them have been in a terrible state,' he told the Guardian newspaper.
But
the British nurse also spoke of chronic staffing shortages, the
excruciating pain of ebola sufferers, mothers watching their children
die, and how patients had to lie next to corpses for hours because there
were not enough staff to move the bodies.
'It's
the easiest situation in the world to make a difference. I'm not
particularly experienced or skilled, but I can do the job and I am
actually helping,' he told Sierra Leone-based blogger Jo Dunlop.
Fellow
volunteer Professor Robert Garry, of Tulane University School of
Medicine in New Orleans, praised Mr Pooley's dedication to his ebola
patients.
He said: 'Will was working longer and harder than just about anyone out there. He was putting in 12 to 18-hour days.
A group of young volunteers wear special uniforms to carry the bodies of
people, sterilized after dying due to the Ebola virus, to a car ahead
of their burials in Kptema graveyard in Kenema, Sierra Leone
We have been understaffed at the hospital. Nursing staff have been afraid to go in.'
Dr
Oliver Johnson, who has also been helping ebola victims in Sierra
Leone, said Mr Pooley was an 'extraordinary guy' who knew the risks
involved but was prepared to take them for the sake of the patients and
his colleagues.
Mr Pooley's family yesterday praised the doctors treating him at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London.
They said in a statement: 'We would like to express our thanks to all involved in bringing our son back to the UK.
'We
have been astounded by the speed and way which the various
international and UK government agencies have worked together to get
Will home.
'Will is
receiving excellent care and we could not ask for him to be in a better
place. We would like to thank all our family and friends for their best
wishes and ask everyone to remember those in other parts of the world
suffering with Ebola who do not have access to the same healthcare
facilities as Will.'
Photo Credit: The Guardian
Source: Mailonline
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