Ebola victim's Texas fiance expresses gratitude, sorrow

[October 20, 2014]  By Karen Brooks
 
 (Reuters) - The fiancée of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian who died of Ebola in Dallas earlier this month, said on Sunday she was grateful to be leaving quarantine without any signs of the disease that killed the man she was to marry, but saddened by the toll the virus has taken.

"We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are so grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness," Louise Troh said in a statement. "We continue to mourn his loss and grieve the circumstances that led to his death, just at the time we thought we were facing a happy future together."

Troh and her family will leave protective isolation at midnight local time (CST) Sunday, according to the statement, which was distributed by Dallas city officials.

Troh, her 13-year-old son and two others had been under a quarantine after Duncan tested positive for the virus. His death on Oct. 8 at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas triggered monitoring for dozens of people for 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola.

The outbreak of the disease has killed more than 4,500 people, mostly in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Troh, who was also born in Liberia, expressed sympathy for two Dallas nurses who cared for Duncan and who are now being treated for Ebola. She thanked the "angels from God" among the city officials and healthcare workers who assisted them.

"We thank all people of kindness who have prayed for us during this time, and we join your prayers now for others who are suffering too," she said. "We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope."

Duncan, who was visiting his fiancée in Texas, died in an isolation ward of a Dallas hospital on Oct. 8 unable to be surrounded by the people dearest to him. He died 11 days after being admitted.

(Reporting by Karen Brooks in Austin; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

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