Ebola victim, Patrick Sawyer, 40, who
died of the deadly virus in Lagos,
Nigeria, on July 25 was scheduled to
return to the United States in August.
His wife, Decontee Sawyer, said her
husband was to return for two of their
daughters’ birthdays.
Decontee and the children lived in Coon
Rapids, Michigan.
Patrick Sawyer died on Friday after
suffering extreme bouts of vomiting and
diarrhea on a flight from Liberia to
Nigeria
Decontee said her husband had planned
to return to their Coon Rapids home in
August to attend two of his three
daughters’ birthdays, Minnesota’s KSTP-
TV reported.
The grieving widow said she hoped her
husband’s death served as a wake-up
call about the global threat of the virus,
which had already killed more than 670
people in West Africa.
“It’s a global problem because Patrick
could’ve easily come home with Ebola
It’s close; it’s at our front door. It
knocked down my front door,” Decontee
told the station.
Health experts said it was unlikely
Sawyer infected others because Ebola
spreads through body fluids such as
urine, blood or saliva. Unlike the flu, it
does not travel through the air.
So far, Nigerian authorities identified 59
people who came into contact with him,
including airline employees and health
workers, and tested 20 of them. None
of them was positive, the Associated
Press reported.
Still, the fact that he was able to board a
plane while ill – coupled with the fact
his sister recently died from Ebola –
raised questions about passenger
screening and the risk of the disease
spreading through air travel, officials
said.
Two other American aid workers in
Liberia have fallen ill with the disease
and were being cared for by doctors
there.
Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, and his colleague
Nancy Writebol spent months fighting
Ebola in that country before becoming
sick themselves.
Brantly’s wife and two young children
lived with him in Liberia until recently,
when they left to attend a wedding in
the US.
“They are now in Abilene, Texas and
were being monitored for signs of the
disease, officials said.
Sawyer lived in Minnesota for about a
decade before returning to Liberia in
2008 to work as a finance minister,
KSTP-TV reported.
His wife said he was beloved in their
local Liberian community.
They planned to honor him with a
memorial in September.
Decontee said she was left cold by the
thought of another family losing their
loved one to the disease.
She added that she hoped that African
health officials were doing all they could
to fight the outbreak.
“I have three girls who will never get to
know their father. This can’t happen
anymore.
“I don’t want any more families going
through what I’m going through,” she
told KSTP-TV
•Culled from New York Daily News