By Maggie Fox, NBC News
Declaring his cure a miracle, a doctor infected with the Ebola virus while working to save patients in West Africa walked out of an Atlanta hospital on Thursday. Hospital officials said they released a colleague quietly on Tuesday at her request.
Dr. Kent Brantly gives a hug to Dr. Bruce Ribner during a press conference announcing his release from Emory Hospital on August 21, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Brantly thanked the medical team, his family and Samaritan’s purse for their help in his recovery. Dr. Brantly and another patient, Nancy Writebol, were released from Emory Hospital after receiving treatment for Ebola that they both contracted while working as medical missionaries in Liberia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
“Today is a miraculous day. I am thrilled to be alive, to be well and to be reunited with my family,” Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, of Christian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, told a news conference.
Nancy Writebol, 59, an aid worker who also contracted Ebola while doing missionary aid work in Liberia, was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, according to Emory and the aid group SIM. She is spending private time with her husband. “As she walked out of her isolation room, all she could say was ‘To God be the glory,'” Brantly said.
Brantly, who clutched the hand of his wife, Amber, before speaking, said he would be spending a month in private with his family before sharing any more of his story. “But for now we need some time together after a month apart,” he said.
“Please do not stop praying for the people of Liberia and West Africa and for an end to this Ebola epidemic,” Brantly pleaded in a brief statement. He hugged his doctors and nurses as he left, and officials at Emory and the CDC emphasized that the patients pose no risk to public health.
“After a rigorous course of treatment and testing, the Emory Healthcare team has determined that both patients have recovered from the Ebola virus and can return to their families and community without concern for spreading this infection to others,” Dr. Bruce Ribner, director of Emory’s Infectious Disease Unit, said at the news conference.
“We understand that there are a lot of questions and concerns about the Ebola virus and the infection that is causes. However we cannot let our fears dictate our actions,” Ribner added. “We don’t think he’s contagious.”
Read the full story by Maggie Fox from NBC News.
