Ebola Survivor Dr. Sacra Joins West African Community to Raise Awareness About Fatal Virus

Rally held in Worcester, Massachusetts, aims to keep attention on Ebola virus

 While the Ebola scare may have faded to the back pages in the U.S., it hasn't in West Africa.

A rally and event in Worcester, Massachusetts, are keeping the attention on the issue both at home and abroad.

Friday night, a "Stop Ebola" march went through the streets of Worcester to bring light to the darkness thousands of miles away in West Africa.

Three flags were raised alongside the emblem of Worcester: the nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, all at the center of this tragic epidemic.

A central figure for his courageous and successful battle over Ebola, a missionary revered by West African immigrants, Dr. Rick Sacra, was there. "I'm feeling great, I'm really feeling good. These last couple of weeks I've started to feel basically full strength. And I'm very happy about that," he said.

The UMass Memorial Medical Group and S-I-M USA doctor knows how fortunate he is to be alive, but his heart and focus remain with the people of West Africa.

"It's very humbling. I had Ebola and here I am alive. I'm not any better than those who haven't made it," he added.

More than 5,000 have not.

Among them, the family of Momolu Bongay, a Fed Ex worker who lives in Worcester. "There were about 13 (in Liberia). Four left. Nine died," he said.

The night is also about correcting the myths and misconceptions of the greater community, that Ebola is not spreading through Worcester County's West African immigrants.

Joshua Bing, the president of the Liberian Association of Worcester County says even his friends think they will get Ebola from West Africans here, but emphasized that's not true.

Dr. Sacra said 218 people are in treatment in Liberia right now, and there have been small improvements in the country.

Sierra Leone, he says, has gotten worse.

Dr. Sacra plans to return to West Africa in January.

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