Aid worker and Ebola survivor Nancy Writebol, who was treated for the virus at Emory University Hospital, will serve as the keynote speaker at Emory’s nursing school convocation Friday.
The special celebration at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory serves as the school’s official welcome for incoming nursing students and faculty. The event will take place from 10 a.m-11 a.m at Emory’s Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church.
“We are extremely honored to have Nancy Writebol share her incredible experiences with our faculty, staff, and students,” says Linda McCauley, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing said in a press release . “Her story is an inspiring testament to the miraculous advances in medical science, the teamwork and expertise of our clinicians, and the indomitable spirit of one individual dedicated to improving health and human dignity around the world.”
Writebol contracted Ebola while working with a missionary group in Liberia. On August 5, 2014, she was admitted to Emory's Serious Communicable Diseases Unit for care.
Writebol, along with Dr. Kent Brantly, also an American missionary providing humanitarian aid in West Africa were the first Ebola patients treated in the United States. She was treated and discharged on August 19, 2014.
Brantly left Emory Hospital following a news conference on Aug. 21. Writebol did not attend the press conference.
The Ebola outbreak in Western Africa was one of the wort in history, claiming the lives of more than 1,100 people and infecting more than 1,000 others, according to the World Health Organization. The organization declared an end to the most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia in June 2016.
Several months after recovering from Ebola, Writebol and her husband David headed back to Liberia.
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