--- title: Ebola Survivor Fights to Protect Others From the Virus description: In 2014, Dr. Adaora Okoli contracted Ebola while treating the first person with the disease in Nigeria. canonical: https://time.com/5087371/this-ebola-survivor-is-fighting-to-protect-others/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-04T11:32:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:44:25.072Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Ebola Survivor Fights to Protect Others From the Virus og:description: In 2014, Dr. Adaora Okoli contracted Ebola while treating the first person with the disease in Nigeria. og:url: https://time.com/5087371/this-ebola-survivor-is-fighting-to-protect-others/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbf02035ca42e829/6988f65b0a4a22bbdb9d131c/optimist-issue-a-igonoh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: optimist-issue-A-Igonoh og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Survivor Fights to Protect Others From the Virus twitter:description: In 2014, Dr. Adaora Okoli contracted Ebola while treating the first person with the disease in Nigeria. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbf02035ca42e829/6988f65b0a4a22bbdb9d131c/optimist-issue-a-igonoh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Ebola Survivor Is Fighting to Protect Others From the Deadly Disease > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 4, 2018 11:32 AM UTC  Dr. Adaora Okoli, Ebola survivor and disease fighter. Dr. Adaora Okoli, Ebola survivor and disease fighter. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 4, 2018 11:32 AM UTC In 2014, Dr. Adaora Okoli [contracted Ebola](http://time.com/4784029/ebola-outbreak-congo/) while treating the first person with the disease in Nigeria. It wasn’t long after that Okoli began to come down with symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea. Okoli was quickly moved into a special treatment ward, along with several medical colleagues, some of whom succumbed. “We couldn’t get the experimental therapy, and there was no survivor’s plasma,” she says. “The only thing I knew to do was to talk to God and say, ‘I need you to heal me.'” Okoli also knew she had to stay hydrated and check her pulse. Six days after she entered the ward, she started to improve. One morning, a doctor confirmed she no longer tested positive for Ebola. She cut a red ribbon on her way out, symbolizing her re-entry into the world. “I felt like I was reborn,” she says. A lot has changed for Okoli, 27, since that fateful week. She has a 2-year-old daughter, and she is enrolled in the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She plans to return to Nigeria. “Ebola is going to come back. It may not be next year or the next five years. But it will come back,” says Okoli. “I know I was sick for a reason. 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