An ambulance worker in Liberia has told of his desire to help his country completely beat the deadly Ebola disease after surviving the virus himself.
Foday Gallah told the ABC’s The World program he was treating patients as part of his day job running an ambulance in the Liberian capital Monrovia when he discovered he had contracted the virus.
“At first I didn’t know I had it,” he said.
“It was a horrible moment for me, it was terrible and it was painful.”
Mr Gallah said there was no easy way to beat Ebola and his time in a treatment centre proved difficult.
“You wake up in pain,” he said. “Sometimes with heartburn, sometimes you wake up not feeling very strong.
“Sometimes your eyes are red with a severe headache.
“The pain was numerous and just so severe. So you only pray to God that you survive.”
After two and a half weeks, tests confirmed Mr Gallah had overcome the disease.
He said his first thought was getting back on the road in the ambulance to help others.
“I feel so, so proud. I feel so wonderful that at least I can be part of the fight against Ebola in my country,” he said.
“Although it was horrible, although it was painful, but I’m grateful that I can work for my country and work for other people.”
The World Health Organisation says almost 500 health workers have died from Ebola in the three worst affected countries – Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Last week, Liberia discharged its last confirmed Ebola patient and reported for the first time in nine months that it had gone a full week without any new infections.
Almost 24,000 people have been infected with the virus since December 2013, almost all in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and 9,807 of them have died, according to the WHO.
Of those, 9,249 cases including 4,117 deaths were registered in Liberia, which six months ago was reporting more than 300 new cases each week.