The story is even more heartwarming when read from the book. Kent Brantly, the American doctor that beat Ebola published his book just this week at WaterBrook Press. The book is co-written by with his wife, Amber and speaks about the whole experience that the family of four went through.
You may remember Brantly as making the cover of TIME Magazine last year after he was cured of Ebola. The doctor had been working as a volunteer, a medical missionary, with the Samaritan’s Purse organization. Six months prior to the outbreak of the deadly disease in Liberia, the two had moved there along with their two children.
The book details the whole event of his getting the life-changing diagnostic.
Apparently, Kent felt ill only a few days after his wife and kids went back to the US for a small trip home. As he tells his wife in the book, he had fever and couldn’t work a whole day due to the symptoms. Yet, at first, he hesitated on calling his family. He was, naturally, afraid. Just imagine what was going through the doctor’s head, as it was distinctly possible that all his family was infected.
Instead of telling them he felt sick, he went on to test himself for Ebola. The first test came back negative. That’s when he told his wife. The first test being often inconclusive, the second one was taken. This one, to his shock, came back positive.
When the phone rang and Kent said that he had Ebola, Amber cried her heart out. She was half a world away from him. She felt powerless.
He stood in quarantine in Liberia until the end of July. By August 1st, he had received ZMapp, the experimental Ebola drug, and he was on his way back to the US on extremely strict quarantine conditions. Back in the US, drawing strength from the enormous amount of support that was shown for him, as he had become worldwide news, he had the power to climb steps, while still being severely affected by the disease.
In the hospital, his condition got worse. But he pulled through. After one week, he regained his appetite. That was the turning point. By August 20, he had permission to hug his wife. This was the first contact with another human being since the beginning of the disease that was not made through gloves or other plastics.
The beautiful and inspiring story of Doctor Kent Brantly and his wife, who plan on going back to Liberia to continue helping, is available for only $23.
Image source: waterbrookmultnomah.com
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