EmailThe British nurse who survived Ebola has flown back to Sierra Leone expressing fears that the world will return to indifference about the plight of Africans when the crisis abates.
Will Pooley is expected to touch down in Freetown on Sunday evening and will resume work on Monday in an Ebola isolation unit run by a team backed by three NHS trusts and a London university.
He said he “can’t see anything changing” in attitudes towards Africa, where diseases such as malaria have already killed 70 times more people than Ebola this year.
The Suffolk-born nurse said it had been an easy decision to return despite the worries of his family and friends. He has said he cannot stand “idly by” and watch more die. “I chose to go before and it was the right thing to do then and it’s still the right thing to do now.”
Although it is widely assumed that a person cannot contract Ebola twice, this is not scientifically proven and Pooley has been warned that he still faces a risk. “They have told me I very likely have immunity, at least for the near future, to this strain of Ebola. I have also been told it’s a possibility that I don’t, so I will just have to act as if I don’t,” he told the Guardian.
He said he is keen to return to alleviate the suffering and put all the fuss about his own brush with the disease behind him. Before leaving he demonstrated typical selflessness, banking 1.2 litres of plasma in a lab in Birmingham to help WHO research on a “convalescent plasma therapy”.
“Some of it might be used for research and consent has been given. It may be possible to use it for any future patients,” he said. Pooley has also had white blood cells harvested for research. Last month he flew to the US where he gave a further three litres over six days.
While on the ward at the Connaught hospital in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, he will wear full personal protective equipment, including mask, goggles and special overalls. “You’re going to get the virus on yourself and you need to dispose of that virus safely. You couldn’t walk into the ward in your own clothes. You might be exposed to the virus and then walk out of the ward and potentially other people wold be exposed too,” he said.
He is joining a 10-strong team working with King’s Health Partners, a partnership between King’s College London and three London NHS trusts: Guys and St Thomas’, King’s College hospital, and South London and Maudsley. “I’m excited to get back out there. I want to get back to work,” he said.
The Kings team, headed by British doctor Oliver Johnson, has been at the Connaught since 2013 working on health infrastructure. When the Ebola virus hit in May, it swung operations around to help contain the outbreak. As it went out of control, Johnson worked with the government to set up an Ebola command centre in the capital.
“It’s fantastic that Will has chosen to join our small team … The situation here in Freetown is getting worse by the day,” said Johnson. “Will’s experience and commitment will be vital as we do everything we can to flow the stem of cases.”
When Pooley was airlifted from Sierra Leone on 25 August Ebola had already killed 1,400. The situation has rapidly deteriorated since and the death toll now eclipses 4,500. As the crisis intensifies in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO has warned Ebola could be infecting as many as 10,000 people a week by December.
Pooley said he understood the concern about an outbreak in Britain or America but urged the public to donate money to fight the “real problem” in west Africa.
“The risk of a really damaging outbreak here [in the UK] is negligible. There’s an absolute catastrophe happening in another part of the world, so really that should be our focus,” he said.
But as the WHO admitted it had mishandled the early stages of the outbreak, Pooley said he was pessimistic about attitudes. “I can’t really see anything changing, maybe we will get involved in the Ebola response, but after it’s over things will go back to how they’ve always been,” he said. “It’s a total shame we’re ignoring all this death going on not too far away, but it’s always been the case. It always will be.
“Take malaria: there are hundreds of thousands dying of malaria in Africa every year and it would be an outrage if it happened here, but because it’s happening there, people don’t mind. I think it’s terrible but it’s just how it is.”
He urged the media to increase efforts to go to the afflicted countries and “send pictures back” to make the public aware of “just how bad things are and the suffering the disease is causing”. He hoped this would put pressure on governments to get more involved.
He also urged more doctors and nurses to volunteer. Pooley said it was disappointing to see “wrangles over trying to get the NHS staff to help”, with the government initially rejecting calls to release staff. “Maybe in the future there’ll be a more sympathetic [attitude] towards the amazing experience healthcare workers can gain by working in Africa and the amazing good they can do.”
