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 Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have been gripped by the worst
outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever on record. The laboratory in Bong
County, about 200 km (120 miles) east of the capital Monrovia, has
cut testing time to five hours from five days.
Nearby patients are being treated in the Bong County Ebola Treatment
Unit (ETU).
"When I first arrived and visited the ETU, seeing the actual people
that were relying on our work ... it changed me. Now when we work in
the lab, we see the person behind the sample and know that their
lives could depend on us. It drives us," he told Reuters in an email
on Sunday.
Espinosa, a father of four originally from Colorado, is due to leave
Liberia shortly. On Friday he unexpectedly got to deliver the news
to Solomon, 14, and Joe, 11, that they were now Ebola-free.
"Joe and Solomon were already at the barrier fence (when we
arrived). I'm sure someone told them we had something to tell them,"
Espinosa said. "When we walked up they were dancing to music that
was playing from a radio inside the Confirmed Ward. They are
actually very impressive hip hop dancers."
"'Today you are finally cured! You have no virus left inside of you.
You can go home,'" Espinosa said he told them. "People started
clapping for them, the boys started clapping and smiling and one
asked if he could leave right then. They were obviously very excited
and happy."
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Joe and Solomon had been treated in the Bong County Ebola Treatment
Unit for several weeks and went home on Saturday.
Espinosa said he had a hard time controlling his emotions as he told
the boys.
"When I see the ages of the children that we test it's very hard not
to visualize my own children sick, in pain, and isolated there with
no one to comfort them. It kills me," he said. "So, telling these
boys, who are the same age as mine, was amazing."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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