The widow of late Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who
brought Ebola into Nigeria, has defended her
husband’s decision to travel to Africa’s most populous
country, saying he did so in desperate search for a
country with better healthcare system than his own
country.
In an article published earlier today, TMZ Liberia
Magazine http://www.mytmzliberia.net/) quoted
Decontee Sawyer, who is a radio host in New York, as
explaining that Mr. Sawyer had no trust in the
healthcare system in Liberia and had possibly headed
to Nigeria with the hope of receiving better
treatment for his ailment.
Mrs. Sawyer shared her thoughts on her Facebook
profile from which TMZ Liberia sourced it for
publication.
“I’ve read other reports in other papers (not the New
York Times) about Patrick’s “recklessness.” I get
where they’re coming from, and they certainly have
the right to feel the way they do. However, as
Patrick’s widow, I would like to shed some light on
this from another perspective. One that only I, his
wife, would know,” she wrote.
“I knew Patrick better than anybody else (including
himself). He had told me many times in the past how
much he didn’t trust the Liberian healthcare system.
He would tell me about how a person would get
checked in for one thing, and get misdiagnosed and
get the wrong treatment as a result. On top of that,
Patrick was a clean freak, and told me how filthy a lot
of the hospitals were.
“He didn’t tell me this, but I know in my heart of
hearts that Patrick was determined to get to Nigeria
by all means because he felt that Nigeria would be a
place of refuge. He has expressed to me many times
in the past that he felt passionately about helping to
be a part of strengthening Liberia’s healthcare
system, but he knew it wasn’t there yet, and he
wouldn’t want to take a chance with his life because a
lot of people depended on him… Patrick had a
passion for life, and he wouldn’t have wanted his to
end. So, I bet anything that he was thinking, if I could
only get to Nigeria, a way more developed country
than Liberia, I would be able to get some help. How
ironic.”
Many Nigerians, and even Liberians, condemned Mr
Sawyer for traveling to Nigeria despite knowing that
he was carrying Ebola virus before embarking on the
trip. Some Nigerians on social media have described
him as a “biological terrorist” arguing that he came
into the country deliberately to spread the disease.
On Monday in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan
described Mr Sawyer’s decision to travel to Nigeria as
pure “madness” and “craziness.”
“Sawyer that brought this Ebola to Nigeria; his sister
died of Ebola. And he started acting somehow, his
country asked him not to leave the country, let them
observe him, but the crazy man decided to leave and
found his way here,” President Jonathan said.
In her post, Mrs. Sawyer wrote that the fact that her
husband avoided contact with others at the James
Sprigg Payne’s Airport in Monrovia as revealed by
airport CCTV footage proved he didn’t set out to
infect others with the disease and perhaps his actions
were that of a dying man in desperate search for
help.
“It has been reported that Patrick avoided physical
contact with everyone he came across during his trip
from Liberia to Nigeria. When he got to Nigeria, he
turned himself in letting them know that he had just
flown in from Liberia.
“Patrick went to Nigeria for help so that he can get
properly diagnosed, and not misdiagnosed in Liberia.
And if it came back that he did have Ebola, he trusted
the Nigerian healthcare system a lot more than he
trusted the Liberian’s. His action, as off as it was, was
a desperate plea for help. Patrick didn’t want to die,
and he thought his life would be saved in Nigeria.”
Mrs. Sawyer then took a swipe at the Liberian
President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who said Mr Sawyer
was indiscipline and disrespectful for failing to heed
medical advise not to travel.
Mrs Sawyer said if President Johnson-Sirleaf had
fixed the healthcare system in Liberia, her husband
would not have left in search of treatment
elsewhere.
“I write today, not simply because of Patrick, but
because of the broken healthcare system in the
Liberia, and the government’s inability under
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (and other past
Presidents) to fix it. Good doctors, nurses, and other
healthcare providers aren’t given the support they
need to save lives.
“President Sirleaf went on CNN News throwing stones
at Patrick, a man who can no longer defend himself, a
man who worked tirelessly for Liberia. She should be
ashamed of herself. I use to admire this woman, and
was excited and proud of her accomplishment as the
first woman President in the entire continent of
Africa. She will always own that. We will always own
that. It can’t be taken away from her. It’s something
to be proud of. But this woman has failed her
country,” she wrote.
Nigeria was free of Ebola until July 20 when Mr.
Sawyer arrived.
He became terribly ill on his flight and was rushed to
the First Consultant Hospital Obalende, Lagos, where
he died on July 24.
Nigeria’s Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said on
Monday that although the Liberian government has
apologized for the incidence, it was pertinent to note
that Nigeria was free of Ebola Virus until its
importation by the Liberian-American.
Mr. Sawyer’s action, he said, has placed unnecessary
stress on Nigeria’s health system.
Since Mr. Sawyer’s death in a Lagos hospital, two
other persons who had contact with him have died of
the virus. At least eight others have also tested
positive to the infection and have been quarantined
at a Lagos hospital.
President Goodluck Jonathan has since declared a
national emergency on the disease while the federal
health ministry in conjunction with health ministries
in the 36 states are working to prevent the spread of
the virus, which has killed over 1,000 people in
Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
https://m.premiumtimesng.com/news/166660-ebola-why-patrick-sawyer-travelled-to-nigeria-wife.html
I am awesome!

Biological Terorrist! Something doesn't feel right here.

Mr Sawyer has become a celebrity on death.

God have mercy

well said but not convinced

I'm not trying to disagree with her defence or anything. Its normal,anyone in her shoes will do the same but why Nigeria and not America? We all know America has the best health facilities and they are far far better than Nigeria. Moreover, he's an american which will make it a lot easy to access health center there.
Anyway, the deed has been done and all hands should be on desk to fight this virus. Through one man ebola came to Nigeria and through one man it must leave Nigeria.


Ka Chineke mezie okwu!!!