FREEMAN RESERVE, Liberia // The man with reddened eyes sat in his underwear outside his thatched home. He was weak from diarrhoea, so his wife called the Ebola hotline for an ambulance.
Now that it was here, though, he didn’t want to go.
“Have you been around someone who died? Ever been around any sick people?” said Gordon Kamara, the first responder.
“No sir,” the sick man replies, as more than a dozen neighbours crowd around to see. More emerge on the porches of nearby homes in alarm at the site of first responders in gloves and face masks.
“Mr Kollis, your appearance to me is not well,” Mr Kamara said in frustration. “If you do not come with me now, I will not be coming back for you.”
Neighbours pleaded with Mr Kollis to leave, saying someone who stayed in the house already had died of Ebola. Mr Kollis refused. He said he was worried about who will provide for his children.
The first responders retort his children will get sick and die if he stays.
“Who will pick up your diarrhoea? You are losing water quickly. Do you want to die here?” Mr Kamara said firmly.
The medical team from the Response 2 private ambulance then tried talking to other relatives but it was no use. There are other patients who want to be saved and not enough ambulances to collect them, Kamara says, and the ambulance moves on.
Ebola has killed nearly 2,000 people here in Liberia, and is now growing exponentially because the sick often remain at home where they spread the virus through bodily fluids. There are simply not enough ambulances to drive across the rutted roads into the countryside where the disease is flourishing.
Even when ambulances can reach people, the fear of being transported to a facility where more than half the patients leave in body bags keeps some from going.
“I don’t have police or the authority to force them to leave their homes,” said Mr Kamara, who spent the first four hours of his day trying to find enough protective clothing to do his job. “We still have a lot of people to go pick up. We can’t stay here.”
Families say the wait time can be up to four days. Many instead resort to taxis – which threatens to spread the virus further – while others push their sick relatives in wheelbarrows to the horror of onlookers.
The cases are endless, and sometimes far from the Ebola treatment centres: Mr Kamara and his crew head next to the village of Freeman Reserve, more than 45 kilometres from the capital through fields of rubber trees and past children bathing in the pools of drainage ditches.
At least eight people have died here since July from Ebola, and the 50 people who were in contact with them now have been moved to an elementary school turned into a holding centre.
Three were starting to show symptoms and were sitting outside the principal’s office.
Nathaniel Edward, 2, was listless and limp.
The boy’s grandmother died of Ebola, and now his mother is sick too. Mr Kamara and his co-worker Konah Deno donned their yellow protective suits and eye goggles.
“Don’t worry, you will do well,” he told the pair, as his assistant sprays a mixture of bleach and water on the ground behind them to disinfect the path they have walked.
On the way to the clinic in Monrovia, people on the side of the road hailed the ambulance to get help for a sick woman.
Mr Kamara stopped because today he had space, but in the end it is futile.
She decides not to go after all.
The six patients inside Mr Kamara’s ambulance arrived at Island Clinic just as the facility was ready to release more than 50 survivors whose families line the dirt road outside the entrance.
Taped to the wall nearby is a list of names, below which someone has scrawled in red marker “THESE PATIENTS DID NOT MAKE IT!”
Mr Kamara is off to collect nine more patients before his day is done, but said he’ll be thinking about those he has just left at the clinic.
“I wish them well. I pray that God will be with them because He heals. The doctors treat but God heals.”
* Associated Press
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Quick facts on cancer
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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%3Cp%3EThe%20new%20UAE%20league%20has%20been%20boosted%20this%20season%20by%20the%20arrival%20of%20five%20Pakistanis%2C%20who%20were%20not%20released%20to%20play%20last%20year.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%0D%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EShaheen%20Afridi%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ESet%20for%20at%20least%20four%20matches%2C%20having%20arrived%20from%20New%20Zealand%20where%20he%20captained%20Pakistan%20in%20a%20series%20loss.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EShadab%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%0DThe%20leg-spin%20bowling%20allrounder%20missed%20the%20tour%20of%20New%20Zealand%20after%20injuring%20an%20ankle%20when%20stepping%20on%20a%20ball.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAzam%20Khan%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EPowerhouse%20wicketkeeper%20played%20three%20games%20for%20Pakistan%20on%20tour%20in%20New%20Zealand.%20He%20was%20the%20first%20Pakistani%20recruited%20to%20the%20ILT20.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMohammed%20Amir%20(Desert%20Vipers)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EHas%20made%20himself%20unavailable%20for%20national%20duty%2C%20meaning%20he%20will%20be%20available%20for%20the%20entire%20ILT20%20campaign.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EImad%20Wasim%20(Abu%20Dhabi%20Knight%20Riders)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20left-handed%20allrounder%2C%2035%2C%20retired%20from%20international%20cricket%20in%20November%20and%20was%20subsequently%20recruited%20by%20the%20Knight%20Riders.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
