Lying in a Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) mobile tent clinic was a 39 year old man. Just another victim of the outbreak. Sheikh Humarr Khan, a virologist and doctor had in the recent days treated more than hundred Ebola victims. He was not just another victim, he was a National Hero in Sierra Leone and to the world.
The story of Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan is and will be a legend for centuries to come, in Sierra Leone. A globally renowned expert in tropical disease, a hero who ran Sierra Leone’s worst Ebola ward, top graduate in his class, head of the Lassa fever ward, had treated more cases of hemorrhagic fever than anyone else in the world, soon headed to Harvard on sabbatical to work at the cutting edge of tropical disease research — mapping the virus genome. But then, Khan was facing the greatest challenge of his life and eventually sacrificed his life to it.
Health care workers like Dr. Khan were at the greatest risk during the times of Ebola, being the first port of call for anyone and everyone who was sick. The worst part of Ebola was that it was mercilessly punishing those who cared for others, who cared for people with Ebola or the affected families.
Despite the protective clothing and PPE, despite all the precautionary measures, despite having all the knowledge and awareness, it was a battle not between the virus and the physician but a battle on the choices these health care workers had to make. The choices of steering away from an outbreak that was spreading like wild fire and particularly consuming those that were on the forefront of the response, the medical staff versus volunteering to be another victim to a large scale outbreak and fulfilling the Hippocratic oath he or she had taken to serve as a doctor and keep the patients well-being in their mind always. They chose the latter and they made those choices at the cost of their own lives. The CDC workers had it drummed into them that one of the most dangerous things they could do was touch another human being and yet the health care staff on the forefront of this battle required them to just do that.
Another of Sierra Leone’s top doctors died from Ebola hours after the arrival in the country of an experimental drug, but a bit too late. Dr. Victor Willoughby was the eleventh doctor to die to the Ebola outbreak and was known as the country’s best known and most respected doctors.
At a time when “You cannot touch anyone” or “You cannot comfort them” were being echoed out loud at every work place and at homes of victims, the health care workers responded to the call of duty and rather a call of humanity to be touching the victims and comforting them as part of their physician duties. And yet when it came to their personal lives they missed the same touch and comfort. One of the nurse had not held her children in a month, she was afraid of infecting them.
When a six year old boy died, a responder wanted to console and calm his sister. However, the ability of the responder to touch the child, to hold her or to talk to her were limited significantly due to the personal protective equipment (PPE). A real human touch was rendered impossible by the virus. The sister died the next day. The tragedy of this situation was that the very gestures that are meant to offer comfort, assurance and condolence during a death, were considered to be the most dangerous gestures. One could not give an assuring hug or put an affectionate hand on the shoulder even in the time of death, the most irreparable loss a human endures.
Sadly and unfortunately, the very people who were responsible for and who had volunteered to, take care of the sick were the most and worst affected. Close to a thousand health care workers had contracted Ebola and more than half of them had died and they included doctors, nurses, phlebotomists and laboratory staff. They all had at some point taken care of their own colleagues and watched them all die. Yet, they were still going back into the wards, making the same choices again, doing their work not just because it was their duty or responsibility but because someone had to do this, and they were the only ones who could. Liberia already had only a few dozen of its own doctors. Then came Ebola. Just to put into perspective, as per 2006 health survey there were 51 Liberian doctors in Liberia, a country with only one medical college, of whom only a handful were left with the rest consumed by the Ebola fire. They were the only people who could handle Ebola and one by one they were being hand-picked by the virus. The country was losing best and the brightest one by one, day by day, it was as if the destiny was written all over for anyone taking care of Ebola victims.
Sheikh Humarr Khan was not just a Doctor, he was not just another Ebola victim. He was a National Hero, who and the likes of whom are Risking their Lives to keep rest of us alive and safe.