A permanent reminder of Omaha's role in the battle against Ebola. Dr. Martin Salia lost his personal Ebola battle, but Wednesday his family gets a first-hand look at how he's being remembered.
Dr. Salia's wife and two sons return to Omaha for the first time since his death to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. A plaque is dedicated to him in the Biocontainment Unit.
He contracted the virus while treating patients at a hospital in Sierra Leone in 2014, and died shortly after his arrival in Omaha. UNMC was one of the few places in the world that treated patients with the Ebola virus.
Doctors who treated him and friends called Dr. Salia an inspiration to everyone here.
“If only his name would be somewhere if only, I was praying for that so hard. It’s like a dream come true,” Dr. Salia’s wife, Isatu explained. “The quality care that my husband Dr. Martin Salia gave to life that he chose was given back to him here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.”
The UNMC Biocontainment Unit successfully treated two other Ebola patients.
A brick with Dr. Salia’s name will be placed in the Healing Garden as well.
