Exclusive: Ebola didn’t have to kill Thomas Eric Duncan, nephew says

[freshwest]

By JOSEPHUS WEEKS

Published: 14 October 2014; Updated: 15 October 2014



On Friday, Sept. 25, 2014, my uncle Thomas Eric Duncan went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. He had a high fever and stomach pains. He told the nurse he had recently been in Liberia. But he was a man of color with no health insurance and no means to pay for treatment, so within hours he was released with some antibiotics and Tylenol. Two days later, he returned to the hospital in an ambulance. Two days after that, he was finally diagnosed with Ebola. Eight days later, he died alone in a hospital room.

Now, Dallas suffers. Our country is concerned. Greatly. About the lack of answers and transparency coming from a hospital whose ignorance, incompetence and indecency has yet to be explained. I write this on behalf of my family because we want to set the record straight about what happened and ensure that Thomas Eric did not die in vain. So, here’s the truth about my uncle and his battle with Ebola.

Thomas Eric Duncan was cautious.

Among the most offensive errors in the media during my uncle’s illness are the accusations that he knew he was exposed to Ebola — that is just not true. Eric lived in a careful manner, as he understood the dangers of living in Liberia amid this outbreak. He limited guests in his home, he did not share drinking cups or eating utensils...

More at the link:

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20141014-exclusive-ebola-didnt-have-to-kill-thomas-eric-duncan-nephew-says.ece

The writer, Josephus Weeks is an Iraq War veteran who lives in North Carolina. And he knows a lot more about this man than the media or citizens.

I have defended Duncan both online and offline, had arguments with others over his culpability. I feel that this story, along with others I could cite posted on DU and elsewhere, justify my opinion that this man and his family were treated shamefully and that those who have been most hysterical and angry at him are not on the side of science and justice.

The most heartbreaking an enraging things to me, I have emboldened. When one goes the link for more, this also stands out:

Thomas Eric Duncan could have been saved.

People are not giving him the benefit of he doubt as they should, as a human being. Would they ascribe venal or sinister motives to him if they were talking about themselves or their own families?

It says more about them than Duncan, IMO. This should be hashed out in the AA group, as I am tired of what I'm seeing in other forums about AAs.

Some people are focusing on the disease and not the person, as they would demand to be treated as in real life. I don't have enough facepalm pictures to express my fatigue.

[Autumn]

1. Thank you for posting this.

He didn't have to die.

[sheshe2]

3. He died alone...

The fact is, nine days passed between my uncle’s first ER visit and the day the hospital asked our consent to give him an experimental drug — but despite the hospital’s request they were never able to access these drugs for my uncle. (Editor’s note: Hospital officials have said they started giving Duncan the drug Brincidofovir on October 4.) He died alone. His only medication was a saline drip.

I don't think I have enough tears for the injustice. He died alone freshwest. He died alone with only a saline drip.

[freshwest]

4. They treated him like a lab rat, documenting his death. Not as a human being.

[sheshe2]

9. Yes they did freshwest. They treated him as a lab rat.

'Cause we all know black lives do not matter. Just look at the news.

[Warpy]

5. Thank you

If he had been admitted and diagnosed in a timely manner, likely he would still be alive today, producing antibodies that could save other people sick with the disease.

His story was tragic but nothing in it suggested he'd been at all reckless.

I find nothing but sadness for him and his family and rage at a system that knew this was coming but didn't bother to prepare.

[Number23]

6. That man did not have to die.

[Iliyah]

7. Gov Rick has gone missing.

overall, Texas has a % of uninsured. someone with a 103 degree temp should have never been sent home.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. Heart breaking

[freshwest]

10. And preventable. It wasn't the virus that killed him. It was the inhumanity.

[blackspade]

11. What a heartbreaking and senceless death

The color of his skin was definitely a factor in his death.

Which is a sad indictment of our 'post-racial' America.

[ballyhoo]

12. This Ebola strike has taught us much more about our country than

its faulty preparation for a disease. It has taught us what animals a large portion of us have become. A man should not have to die alone for any reason, let alone his skin color preventing him from being treated as part of humanity. I hope he is a better place attended by those who welcome his arrival.

[JI7]

13. there was a picture posted of him at the airport with a woman

her face was blurred out but from what you see it was what you see in airports all the time. people greeting each other . he seemed to normal and happy.

the whole thing makes me sad when you consider his history and the wars he lived through in his home country but ends up dying in the US because he was dismissed based on what he looks like.

[freshwest]

14. And he is still being called a liar even on DU in the middle of all the hysteria.

This event has been just as revealing as the Trayvon Martin case was to me about a double standard.

[freshwest]

15. First US Ebola victim remembered for compassion

By EMERY P. DALESIO - Oct 18, 2014

SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) — Thomas Eric Duncan was remembered Saturday as a big-hearted and compassionate man whose virtues may have led to his infection with Ebola in his native Liberia and subsequent death as the first victim of the disease in the United States.

Family and friends gathered at a small Southern Baptist church with a primarily Liberian flock near where Duncan's mother and other family members live.

Duncan's neighbors in Liberia believe he was infected by helping a pregnant woman who later died from Ebola. It was unclear if he knew about her diagnosis before traveling to the United States. Duncan denied helping his Ebola-sickened neighbor, but it would be consistent with the caring nature he always showed, said his nephew Josephus Weeks of nearby Kannapolis.

"There's no doubt in my mind that what's described in the news is something that Eric would do," said Weeks, who like Duncan is 42 and grew up in the same households as his uncle. "Eric would have been out there and helped that woman. And he would have done everything that he needed to do for that woman to make sure she was fine."

FULL story at link:

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141018/us-ebola-victim-memorial-7950b5b972.html

to Omaha Steve:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014922216#op

[freshwest]

16. Well, I made the mistake of posting on OS's thread on this, and the hate's still on.

I may delete my response, which I didn't link to here, because I am just sick of it.

I can't get through to some my notion that Duncan deserved better. He's still called a 'liar' who infected others, and always will be to some.

No use arguing, is there?

[heaven05]

17. american racism

killed this man. All others who are white have been treated with that experimental drug. Just pure american racism is at the bottom of this unnecessary tragedy.