Dr Philemon is now immune from future infection and works at the same treatment centre in Beni where he was a patient. Every time a doctor enters the treatment area at the Ebola medical centre in Beni, the support staff write their name on the section of their protective suits which covers their foreheads. It is something of a necessity for it can be difficult to distinguish each medic under their masks and multiple layers of biohazard gear. However, Dr Kambale Philemon does not need his name inked on his suit because everybody knows who he is. The 46-year old is an Ebola survivor. Dr Philemon contracted Ebola last November while working in the emergency room at a general hospital in Beni - a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When the blood tests came back, he knew his odds of survival were poor. He said: "It first hit me that this might be Ebola because I had never felt so bad so I asked for a blood test. "The other doctors had their doubts - 'you cannot get Ebola', they said - but the way I was feeling, it could only be Ebola. "When the result came back it was positive." I told him that must have been frightening. He replied: "Yes, the fear is huge because you are between life and death." Dr Philemon was fortunate he says, because his wife and daughters were on holiday at the time and he could have easily infected them. However, as a physician, he knew his own future was bleak. He said: "I was put in a cube (treatment tent) and the first five days were not easy because I was completely lost. "It was only after that period I started to recover my memory and recognise members of my own family". We were filming at the treatment centre - which is run by medical charity ALIMA - and at the time, I remember trying to ask Dr Philemon a question through the transparent plastic wall of his cube. However, the attending medic said he was far too weak to speak. Dr Philemon says for the first five days of treatment he was 'completely lost' On the last day of our visit, we went to say goodbye - but the doctor's cube was empty and a health worker told us he had died. It was with a mixture of elation and surprise when we learned Dr Philemon had actually survived. He offered us a smile - and a chuckle - when we visited him at his home in Beni. "When I returned home I was welcomed by everyone in the entire neighbourhood," he said. "The (house) compound was full of joy because the people thought I was dead. There were lots of rumours going around." As a survivor of the Ebola virus, the physician is immune from future infection and he has been deployed at the same treatment centre where he was a patient. The hours are brutal - Dr Philemon says he works every day - but Beni is at the centre of this epidemic. We watched the doctor as he entered cube number five and found a woman called Kavira who was utterly unresponsive. He called for a drip and oxygen - then a resuscitator - as the woman's anxious-looking relatives watched from the other side of the cube. It took him three hours to stabilise the patient and we found the him later, drenched in sweat, as support staff stripped off his protective clothing. I asked: "Why do you work here when you almost lost your life here?" He replied: "I took an oath and I have compassion for people who are sick. I want to save lives. That is my oath and that is my job and I love it." Dr Philemon understands what his patients are going through. He knows in a way that few others could ever understand and he will do anything he can to keep them alive. Source
