British EBOLA patient William Pooley Treated With ZMapp Discharged

The first British victim of Ebola virus has been discharged from hospital after having been treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.

William Pooley during the press-conference after discharge from the hospital. Credits: PA

William Pooley, aged 29, volunteered in Sierra Leone to help people fight the outbreak of the deadly tropical virus. However as soon as the man developed Ebola symptoms and tested positive for the virus, he was flown back to the United Kingdom for treatment on August 24.

His family members expressed gratitude to the UK authorities over quickly response to the incident and provision of excellent medical assistance at the Royal Free Hospital.

It is none of a secret, that the British patient was among several people in the world, who had the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp administered. This very serum is believed to have saved the lives of 2 Americans who had received it earlier.

After more than a week-long battle with the disease Pooley was released Wednesday morning.

Speaking after the recovery, the man characterized himself as a “very lucky” person, Telegraph UK reports:

“I was very lucky in several ways. Firstly in the standard of care which I received, which is a world apart from what people are receiving in West Africa at the moment despite a lot of aid organisations’ best efforts. My symptoms never progressed to the worst stages of the disease. [Compared to] the people that I’ve seen dying horrible deaths, I had some unpleasant symptoms but nothing compared to the worst of the disease.”

Before contracting the virus, Pooley had helped to save scores of lives in Sierra Leone.

The man was interviewed several days before he had developed Ebola symptoms and expressed joy over aiding people. He was quoted saying:

“It’s great seeing them walk away after some of them have been in a terrible state. Seeing them recover and walk out the door, it’s great.”