Dr Raymond Kasereka Kamwanga survived Ebola after checking into a treatment centre despite his mother telling him he would die if he sought treatment, according to BBC News.
When the 30-year-old medic told his family in July that he suspected he had Ebola and was heading to a specialised unit in Butembo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, his relatives were horrified and viewed the facility as a death house where few patients recover.
His 50-year-old mother wept and pleaded with him to stay away.
Masika Ndungo had asked him, according to BBC News.
Working as a doctor at Butembo’s Katwa Hospital, Dr Kamwanga knew remaining at home would likely prove fatal.
“We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, and the outbreak struck two months after the World Health Organization declared the crisis a public health emergency of international concern, with North Kivu province serving as the epicentre holding the highest number of reported cases according to the Congolese health ministry.
Dr Kamwanga believes he caught the virus through patient contact in an environment lacking adequate protective measures.
He ultimately became one of 3,031 survivors of the epidemic, which has left 5,400 dead and 11,000 infected. Having overcome the illness and subsequent ostracisation, he is writing a book about his ordeal.
he told BBC News outside Katwa Hospital, where he continues his medical work while sharing his story to help halt the infections devastating his community.
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