DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Almost two years to the day she was released from Emory University Hospital, Ebola survivor Nancy Writebol returned to campus to thank the doctors and nurses who treated her so successfully.
"The care here at Emory was amazing," said Writebol. "I'm very thankful for the doctors and nurses who cared for us."
Writebol came to speak before the Emory School of Nursing Convocation Friday morning.
Doctors diagnosed Writebol with Ebola while she was working with health care providers in Liberia in June, 2014.
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The hospital she was doing mission work in became the only hospital in Liberia to accept Ebola patients. She and Dr. Kent Brantly contracted the deadly virus there.
After quick negotiations involving the U.S. State Department, both Brantly and Writebol were flown to metro Atlanta, then taken via ground ambulance to Emory University Hospital, which has a special isolation unit for handling highly contagious illnesses. Doctors administered an experimental drug to both patients.
Both she and Brantly survived.
"I'm thankful for just how they were pro-active in the treatment that they gave us," Writebol said. "When things didn't work in one way or another, they would try to work in a different direction."
Doctors released Writebol on August 19, 2014. Since then, both she and her husband have returned to continue their mission work in Liberia.
"When God calls you to do what you've been called to do, until he releases you from that, no matter how difficult it is, you go back," Writebol said.
Cox Media Group
