How Disease disrupted her wedding

Samuel Port-Harcourt physician who died of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) after treating an ECOW AS diplomat who escaped from Lagos, has disclosed how she battles stigmatization after surviving the disease. 

The young lady who looked very much healthy spoke at the official certification of Nigeria as free from Ebola by the World  Health Organisation, revealed that even her wedding plans have been truncated because of the Ebola infection. 

Still grief stricken, Chinyere lamented that her brother lost his life to the disease, explaining that she only performed her duties as a good sister by taking care of her brother till he passed on. 

She said: "He actually took ill and was admitted in a private hospital and through the period of his stay there, I was taking care of him as the younger sister. After the incident, unfortunately he could not make it. 

"I was placed under surveillance, though I experienced no reasonable symptom due to my high immune system".

My temperature was within 36 to 37 degrees, but after about a week, I was not feeling comfortable due to the way the information was poorly managed and so much rumours and false statements was introduced into the mix. That was enough to make me scared and feel uncomfortable. 

"After sometime, I started having stomach upset and I had to call for help" 

Thank God for the intervention of the Rivers State and the federal governments as well as Ebola agents. They intervened and took me to the isolation centre where they took appropriate care of me and gave me balanced diet to raise immunes again, so they had to stop the drugs administration but still continued with the other things like oral drip. With time the all whole symptoms diminished and I felt better. 

"After few days of staying there they did some tests and gave me some drugs". 

When I told them that I felt better, they insisted that they test me two more times to be sure that I am okay. Some days after, they took some samples and carried out tests and the next day they took another sample and went for the final test. I was discharged thereafter." 

Expressing sadness over the negative treatment she and the family received, including her brother's suspension from work,  

Chinyere appealed to the public to stop discriminating against EVD survivors and their relatives. 

She said 'The whole incident is not a pleasant one, it is traumatic, we were highly stigmatised due to rumours and side talks including the true and false ones. It affected me negatively; and that was the same effect on other members of my family.  

This is because once you bear that name; everyone tends to be scared of you. 

"Some of my family members were sent out of work, some were suspended, my younger brother was given warning not to leave school to Port Harcourt at anytime or they will stop him from the school. It really affected our family. 

"I was supposed to wed on September 27, but that had to be put on hold".

The booking we made for reception hall for our wedding was canceled; the money was not refunded us. All we invested in the wedding is gone. We have to start all over again with another venue because I am very sure if we stuck with other venue as planned, nobody will attend just because of the kind of information that was passed on.

“It will be good if there is anything the government can do to also help us out, especially in terms of stigma and to augment the situation of the family because Ebola destroyed many things in our family including our businesses and studies."

By KEMI YESUFU