Ebola Survivor Rejected by Family Members in Monrovia

An Ebola patient who was recently declared free of the virus and discharged from the ELWA Hospital is being rejected by her family.According to the Liberia News Agency, Decontee Davis, a resident of the Monrovia suburb of Fiamah in Sinkor, has been residing at the Salvation Army Liberia Command in Sinkor since her release due to the rejection by her family.

Addressing a press conference Thursday, Davis, one of ten Ebola survivors who were discharged from the ELWA Hospital recently, said the treatment she is receiving from her family members is frustrating.

“It is disheartening for anyone who was hard hit by the deadly virus and rescued by the Almighty God only to be rejected by relatives upon return home,” she said, adding “this is creating more frustration.”

She noted that the rejection of Ebola survivors by their family members was creating more problems for the survivors, adding that this could even lead to their death.

“This is unacceptable,” Davis said.

She is therefore calling for the formulation of a regulation making it mandatory for family members not to reject their relatives who have recovered from the deadly Ebola virus.

She then expressed gratitude to the government and members of the Salvation Army Liberia Command for the role they played in her recovery.

Meanwhile, also speaking at the occasion, Momo Gborkorkollie Duowee, the Ambassador of the Salvation Army Liberia Command, lauded the government for creating the Treatment Unit at the ELWA Hospital, saying that doctors there are working assiduously as evidenced by the release of several persons, including Davis, who were infected by the virus.

He indicated that as a mark of identifying with government in the Ebola fight, the Salvation Army Liberia Command has begun distributing assorted food and non-food items such as rice, oil, beans, detergents, hand sanitizers, buckets, powder soap, chlorine and Clorox to several communities in and around Monrovia as well as the Monrovia Central Prison.

Mr. Duowee commended the efforts of the international community in the fight against the virus since its outbreak in Liberia over six months ago, but added that “so much still needs to be done.”