by
Leanne Welham
Sierra Leone officials have reported a new Ebola death just hours after global experts declared the devastating West African outbreak was over.
This video, filmed in November on the day Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free, tells the story of three nurses who survived the killer disease.
Sorie, Sewa and Yokie were studying in Freetown when the epidemic began. The friends were given the option of working in the “red zone” – the Ebola isolation unit at Connaught Hospital – and agreed, despite the danger. Their family and friends disowned them and they were thrown out of their lodgings.
Wearing protective suits, they worked the night shift, treating very sick and infectious patients. They often lost 5 or 6 people a night. Sorie describes many patients gripping him tightly until the moment they died.
One night, Sorie had an accident that affected all three of them.
