“TODAY is a miraculous day. I am thrilled to be alive, to be well and to be reunited with my family.”
Dr Kent Brantly’s first public statement since contracting Ebola in Liberia almost a month ago kicked off all well and good, but it wasn’t long before the 33-year-old’s speech took a bizarre turn.
Mr Brantly’s speech was an important milestone in the Ebola movement. He and his colleague, Nancy Writebol, are the first individuals to have received an experimental treatment, and the first Western survivors to speak out after contracting the virus.
But instead of mentioning the science behind the treatment that most likely saved his life, he took a spiritual turn.
His statement soon sounded like a sermon.
Brantly began by sharing how he and his family came to be in Liberia; medical missionaries who moved to West Africa because “God called us to serve the people of Liberia”.
Dr Brantly and his family worked for Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical and sometimes controversial Christian organisation that “targets people in physical need as a fundamental part of their Christian missionary work”, according to Wikipedia.
On July 23, Dr Kently’s life took an “unexpected turn” when he contracted the deadly virus.
“As I lay in bed in Liberia for the following nine days, getting sicker and weaker each day, I prayed that God would help me be faithful, even in my illness,” he said.
“And I prayed that in my life or in my death that he would be glorified.
“I did not know then, but have learned since, that there were thousands, maybe even millions of people around the world praying for me throughout that week and even still today.
“I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and your support, but what I can tell you is that I serve a faithful God who answers prayers.”
While Brantly thanked the medical staff in the isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, he believed his survival was a “direct answer to thousands and thousands of prayers”.
According to Brantly, “God saved my life”.
More than 1,300 people have been killed by the virus in West Africa alone, and the number is growing at a considerable rate.
More than 2,473 people have contracted the disease, more than the previous two-dozen Ebola outbreaks combined, according to the World Health Organisation.
It has a mortality rate of 90 per cent, and has been declared a global health emergency.
A team of five infectious disease experts and 21 nurses worked around the clock to provide care for Mr Brently, and while he took a moment to hug each at the end of the briefing, he credited his spirituality for being important part of his recovery.
He thanked Samaritan’s Purse, SIM, another global missionary group and an experimental drug for his speedy recovery.
He noted his colleague, Nancy Writebol, who also contracted Ebola but was discharged on Tuesday, said as she walked out of her isolation room, “to God be the glory”.
“Above all, I am forever thankful to God for sparing my life,” he ended.
“Please continue to pray for Liberia and the people of West Africa.”
Meanwhile, Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham credited Dr Brently’s faith in God for his speedy recovery.
“Today I join all of our Samaritan’s Purse team around the world in giving thanks to God as we celebrate Dr. Kent Brantly’s recovery from Ebola and release from the hospital,” he said.
“His faithfulness to God and compassion for the people of Africa have been an example to us all.”
Dr Bruce Ribner, who runs the infectious disease unit at Emory University Hospital, did not reveal his patients’ medical history or treatment, but said it was unknown if an experimental drug given to the patients in Liberia improved their condition.
Mr Brantly and Ms Writebol, 59, were given one of only five courses available of the experimental drug, known as Zmapp.
The pair split the dose before being moved to Atlanta in a medical evacuation plane paid for by Samaritan’s Purse.
“Experimental means exactly that. They are the very first individuals to have received this treatment and frankly we do not know,” Ribner said.
It is unclear whether the treatment, or a blood transfusion from a young African Ebola survivor, is to thank for Mr Brantly’s improved condition.
What is known, though, is both Mr Brantly and Ms Writbol’s blood is now clean of the virus.
Samaritan’s Purse has offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdowm.
