Ebola nurse named Time magazine's person of the year dies

An Ebola nurse who was named Time magazine's person of the year in 2014 has died after giving birth to a son.

Salome Karwah, 28, who gave birth to Jeramiah by cesarean section on February 17, died as medical staff were unwilling to touch her because she was a survivor of Ebola, Daily Mail quoted husband James Harris as saying.

The mother-of-four, from Liberia, who tested negative for the disease, was re-admitted to hospital as she experienced complications after the birth.

Harris said his wife started having convulsions and foamed at the mouth.

"(The doctor) was checking Facebook," he said. "Nurses came to help, but the doctor told me that she would not touch her, and that if (Salome) stayed (at the hospital) she would die."

Hospital workers did not treat her as quickly as they could have because of lingering superstitions about Ebola survivors, Harris said.

Chief Medical Officer, Francis Kateh, said: "We have to do a thorough investigation."

During the Ebola crisis in 2014, Karwah lost her mother, father and brother to the disease.

The couple, who met in 2013, both caught the disease in 2014.

Karwah, who was pregnant at the time, her sister and Harris survived the outbreak.

When they recovered, they were hired by Doctors Without Borders to help care for sufferers at their unit here.

While working for the charity, Karwah was not afraid of touching people with the disease and soothed crying babies back to sleep.

As she had survived the usually deadly disease, she could touch sufferers and not be at risk of contracting Ebola again.

At the end of 2014, Karwah was named by Time Magazine, along with a group of 'Ebola Fighters' as Person of the Year.

She married Harris in January 2016.

Karwah's friend Adolphus Mawolo has launched a crowdfunding page to help support Harris, who is unemployed, and his four children.

Mawolo hopes to raise $20,000 to pay for medical bills, food, clothing and shelter.

--IANS

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