Ebola: The Untold Stories of Survivors

Globally, Ebola outbreaks have continued to generate great panic, thanks to the extensive media coverage and the little understanding of the human side of the disease. The Ebola story is usually mixed, leading to widespread misinformation and the feeling of terror. In particular, the near absent voices of the Ebola “victims” in main stream media and the literary world leaves sways of people to form opinions largely based on media reports - yet such reports often come in bits and pieces! To fill this void, this ebook tells the Ebola story from the horses' mouth, confident that it will boost the interest you have in deepening your understanding of life during and following Ebola outbreaks.

Whether you are from the sciences or the arts, this simple and informative book is a “must read” for everyone like you who keenly follows discussions on world’s famous diseases. This book is different from others because it does not concentrate on the “science of Ebola”; rather it deliberately embraces the human side of Ebola - highlighting individuals’, families’ and communities' responses to Ebola outbreaks. The book conveys, in an extraordinary way, “cockpit view” of all what went on in the lives, bodies, souls, and minds of Ebola ‘victims’.

You’re probably asking already, “What is there in this book for me?” In “Ebola: The Untold Stories of Survivors”, Gerald Amandu Matua, RN; PhD, provides some of the most compelling personal stories of survival drawn from years of research and the close interaction with men and women, who unknowingly “looked Ebola in the eye”, became ill and survived! The book articulates the human side of Ebola through previously untold stories of selected survivors, remarkably, linked to two separate outbreaks; a decade apart - year 2000 in Gulu and 2012 in Kibale districts, both in Uganda.

Uniquely, their stories give the reader a rare window to see how the human story of Ebola has evolved over the decades, gained through the following chapters:

oPreface
oPrologue - Wrestling with Death
oConquering Death
oThe Ebola Fugitive
oWaiting to Die Everyday
oDaughter as Mother’s Husband
oCoping through Destruction
oSurviving Ebola - Victors, Victims and the Scars
oEpilogue - Where It All Originated
oPictorial Reminiscence
oGlossary
oAcknowledgements
oAbout the Author

Every chapter is distinctively woven to help you understand the different reactions to Ebola outbreaks.The prologue vibrantly presents the author’s synthesis of what it means to contract Ebola, get admitted, survive, and get discharged back in to the community - all flowing from the authors’ close interaction with these “victims”.

The survivors; both men and women, young and old, unveil how they individually journeyed through the complex trail of Ebola saga, right from the day they fell ill, through to moments of agony in the hospital, climaxing with how their lives unfolded after they returned home.

Each epic journey takes the reader around the physical, psychological, social and spiritual world of each individual who grappled with Ebola. The last part of the book summarizes the outcome of surviving Ebola, whether they emerged as victorious or became victims of their survival experience.

One interesting thing is this… the book presents perspectives that span a period of over a decade, which gives you a golden opportunity to compare these “old survivors stories” with “new survivors stories” currently coming out of West Africa.

I am confident the moment-by-moment description of survivors’ life experiences will engage you, from the beginning to the end, providing you unparalleled insights - away from the usual media and scientific reporting on Ebola epidemics.