--- --- # The Choice  by [Nancy Gibbs](https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/)  ## Nancy Gibbs Dec 11, 2014 11:12 AM UTC  by [Nancy Gibbs](https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/)  ## Nancy Gibbs Dec 11, 2014 11:12 AM UTC _Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, says the proverb, but rather the hero’s heart._ Maybe this is true in any battle; it is surely true of a war that is waged with bleach and a prayer. For decades, Ebola haunted rural African villages like some mythic monster that every few years rose to demand a human sacrifice and then returned to its cave. It reached the West only in nightmare form, a Hollywood horror that makes eyes bleed and organs dissolve and doctors despair because they have no cure….[Read the full story here.](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters-choice/) Read more: [TIME’s 2014 Person of the Year: The Ebola Fighters](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters) [Runner-Up: Ferguson Protesters, The Activists](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-ferguson-protesters) [Runner-Up: Vladimir Putin, The Imperialist](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-vladimir-putin) [Runner-Up: Massoud Barzani, The Opportunist](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-massoud-barzani) [Runner-Up: Jack Ma, The Capitalist](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-jack-ma) The Choice ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3629579/the-choice-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3629579/the-choice-2/"},"headline":"The Choice","datePublished":"2014-12-11T11:12:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:04:46.249Z","description":"Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, says the proverb, but rather the hero’s heart. Maybe this is true in any battle; it is surely...","url":"https://time.com/3629579/the-choice-2/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nancy Gibbs","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3629579/the-choice-2/","name":"The Choice"}}]}] ```