On August 19, 2014, Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, the senior consultant endocrinologist died of Ebola Virus Disease in quarantine at the Yaba Mainland General Hospital isolation facility in Lagos.
The demise of Dr. Stella Adadevoh was confirmed by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu.
She contracted the Ebola Virus Disease while treating Mr. Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who brought the virus into Nigeria on July 20, 2014.
Dr. Adadevoh was the lead physician on duty at First Consultants Medical Centre, Obalende, when Sawyer arrived acutely ill. Despite pressure from diplomats and Sawyer’s insistence on catching an 11 o’clock flight to Calabar, she refused to discharge him.
“She forcefully restricted Mr. Sawyer to his bed after he tried to remove the drip administered on him,” hospital sources said. The Liberian ambassador at the time accused the hospital of “kidnapping” Sawyer and threatening legal action.
But Dr. Adadevoh held her ground. Observers say that single decision probably saved thousands of lives by preventing an untraceable spread.
She was infected during that contact and was moved into isolation. She fell into a coma for nearly a week before succumbing. Her body was later decontaminated and cremated by government health officials.
